The Purple People Bridge will partially reopen Friday morning. The pedestrian span has been closed since Sunday after blocks fell on the Cincinnati side. Southbank Partners President Will Weber says an engineering firm has inspected the damaged area and looked at the rest of the bridge.
“They have indicated that with the exception of this pier needing some additional support and some repair work, everything else is safe,” Weber says. “I think hopefully that will help reassure the public that the Purple People Bridge is a safe bridge. It’s been built to last for over 150 years now. While there is some caution with bridges across the country lately, we have a very safe bridge here.”
Weber says they're waiting for a cost estimate and timetable schedule for repairs.
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He says a full inspection, and these repairs, will cost a lot. “In the long term, it’s going to take a regional community response to this. I believe it’s fair to say the majority of people who cross the bridge don’t know it’s privately owned. And they don’t know of all the funding that goes in to support this bridge on a regular basis comes from renting the bridge as an event venue. There’s no public tax dollars that go into supporting the bridge, like all the other bridges across the Ohio River.”
Weber says donations paid for repairs after sandstone block fell from a different support tower in 2021.
He says everything is on the table, including asking local governments for help. “We have a good relationship with OKI (Regional Council of Governments). They’ve been very supportive of the bridge as a pedestrian connection over the Ohio River in connecting to the other trails on both sides of the river,” he says. “They’ve been a great partner. I think it’ll be great to sit down with the city leadership in both Cincinnati and Newport and talk about what we can do well into the future.”
During the repair process, users will be able to get onto the bridge from the Newport side, and cross the river. But they won’t be able to leave the bridge and enter Ohio. Barricades will go up just past the gates. The bridge is scheduled to open in this fashion by 9 a.m., Friday.
The bridge is popular with joggers, walkers, and cyclists.
