Monday, March 22, 1999
Fort Washington Way to narrow
Westbound lanes close April 30
BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Fort Washington Way reconstruction planners said in January they would have to close the downtown highway's westbound lanes for four months. Now, they've chosen the date — April 30.
That gives commuters headed south on Interstate 71 at Fort Washington Way — about 25,000 daily — just over a month to find a new path.
Drivers headed south on I-71 from Mason trying to get to the airport, for example, will have to take highways such as the Norwood Lateral (Ohio 562), the Ronald Reagan Highway (Ohio 126) or I-471 to I-275 in Kentucky to link with southbound I-71-75.
Closing the westbound Fort Washington Way lanes will cut access to northbound I-75, too.
“There are just so many alternatives that we really don't anticipate there being a major problem,” said John Deatrick, the project's manager.
The closure won't disrupt commutes into downtown Cincinnati down I-71. All the exits in and out of downtown that are open now will remain open while westbound Fort Washington Way is closed. Drivers on eastbound Fort Washington Way won't be affected either.
Before the project, about 60,000 drivers used Fort Washington Way on their way west each day. Now, about 25,000 westbound motorists use it daily, Mr. Deatrick said.
Closing Fort Washington Way's westbound lanes wasn't originally part of the two-year construction plan. But crews need the time and space to make bridge connections at the ends of the reconfigured expressway. The lane closures will also help crews build a relocated floodwall and a new two-tiered Second Street on time.
The $146.9 million Fort Washington Way project, designed to narrow and improve safety on the highway stretching from the Brent Spence Bridge to the Lytle Tunnel, is to be done in August 2000.
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