Mississippi River bridge at Cairo to close Monday for a full year

Beginning Monday, the US 60/62 Cairo bridge over the Mississippi River to Birds Point will be closed to all traffic for a full year.

The closure until October of 2024 is necessary for workers to perform major structural repairs that were discovered during inspections this spring. 

Crews will be making repairs to more than 100 joints on the 94-year-old bridge, at a cost of more than five million dollars.

Trucks and motorists from Kentucky will be detoured through Cairo to I-57.

The year-long repairs on the Mississippi River bridge will take place even as preliminary engineering and environmental studies are underway for construction of a replacement for the nearby 87-year-old Ohio River bridge from Wickliffe to Cairo. A tentative timeline could see that new bridge completed by 2027.



For IDOT District 9 updates, follow Twitter at @IDOTDistrict9 or view area construction details on IDOT’s traveler information map on GettingAroundIllinois.com .