Daytime Lane Restriction Planned on U.S. 51 Ohio River ‘Cairo’ Bridge Starting Friday, Jan. 3

Work estimated to take 10 days to complete

A contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is planning a daytime, work zone lane restriction on the U.S. 51 Ohio River “Cairo” Bridge between Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill., starting at 7 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 3.

A crew will be replacing deck railing along the bridge. Motorists should be prepared to encounter one lane traffic with alternating flow controlled by flaggers. Delays are possible.

Weather permitting, this work zone is expected to be in place during daylight hours for about 10 days.

KYTC District 1 will attempt to provide timely updates on this project.

The existing U.S. 51 Ohio River “Cairo” Bridge between Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill., carries U.S. 51, U.S. 60, and U.S. 62 traffic across the Ohio River at U.S. 51 Kentucky mile point 7.372 and Illinois mile point 0.0. Also known as The Cairo Bridge, it is the longest bridge in Kentucky and the westernmost bridge over the Ohio River.

The bridge carries about 5,300 vehicles per day between Kentucky and Illinois. About 44 percent of the traffic is commercial trucks.

The U.S. 51 Bridge Replacement Project is now in the Final Design stage. Next steps include additional geotechnical exploration and analysis, environmental permitting, Right of Way acquisition, final hydraulics analysis, detailed roadway and bridge design, and the development of construction plans. For the latest information, renderings and more, visit us51bridge.com.