Tagged: Wickliffe-Cairo Bridge

Highway department officials have set dates for two public meetings this month to discuss options for improving or replacing the U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe, Ky. and Cairo, Ill.

The first meeting is Monday, May 20 from 4-7 p.m. at Cairo High School. The second meeting is Tuesday, May 21 from 4-7 p.m. at the Ballard Center Community Room in La Center.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is reviewing bids this week for a planned project impacting truck traffic on the U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe and Cairo, Ill.

Trucks will be have to be rerouted for approximately 70 days beginning in June while workers make repairs on deck stringers and replace several bridge decking joints. KYTC District 1 Chief Engineer Jim LeFevre says the maintenance will begin sometime after June 10.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is studying options for improving or replacing the aging Cairo Bridge that connects Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill. The bridge carries about 5,400 vehicles daily across the Ohio River. The 76-year-old bridge is considered “functionally obsolete” because it doesn’t meet modern traffic standards.

The nearest alternate upstream river crossing is the Ohio River Bridge in Paducah, and it requires a 2-hour detour. Downstream, it’s the Dorena-Hickman Ferry and the Mississippi River Bridge.

Travelers on the U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill., may encounter some delays for about a week while several sections of guardrail are repaired and replaced. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says traffic will be restricted to one lane on the bridge starting today. Approximately 5,500 vehicles use the bridge each day. 

The US 51 bridge over the Ohio River between Wickliffe, Kentucky and Cairo, Illinois is back open after being struck by a barge late last night. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the barge tow was headed downstream when it struck a pier on the Kentucky side just after 11:00 P.M. Inspectors reopened the span three hours later after determining that no structural damage had occurred. Officials say around 5,500 vehicles cross the bridge every day.