Cairo-Wickliffe Bridge Open to All Vehicles

Work to maintain and repair the U.S. 51/60/62 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe and Cairo is complete, and normal traffic flow has been restored.

Prior restrictions to vehicles' width and length kept large trucks and any vehicle with a trailer from crossing the bridge, which meant a much longer route was necessary to get into Illinois or Missouri from Kentucky.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 1 Acting Chief Engineer Mike McGregor expressed his thanks for the patience of area industries and farmers who have been forced to detour since July.

“On average, 5,500 vehicles cross the bridge each day. About 35 percent is truck traffic. That meant an extended detour for about 1,900 vehicles each day,” McGregor said. “This maintenance and repair project will help to maintain the reliability of this bridge.”

Work was done to replace joints and deck support beams, and also patch parts of the bridge surface. Crews also took advantage of the reduced traffic through Wickliffe to pour new concrete at the intersection of the three highways near the approach to the bridge.