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U.S. 51 Ohio River 'Cairo' Bridge Replacement Project Public Meeting Scheduled for Thursday Night
Keith Todd Project team to share bridge design typePADUCAH, Ky. (July 10, 2024) -- The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has scheduled a public meeting on the U.S. 51 Ohio River 'Cairo' Bridge Replacement Project for Thursday, July 11, to update the public on a new river crossing to connect western Kentucky and southern Illinois. The project team plans to share renderings of the selected bridge type and will have a right-of-way display for property owners near the site of the new structure. The project, which is still in the preliminary design phase, calls for the new river crossing to be constructed about 1,000 ft. upstream from the existing U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge. The public meeting will be held July 11 from 5 to 8 p.m., CDT, at Cairo High School at 4201 Sycamore Street in Cairo, IL. It will be conducted in an open house format with a form presentation scheduled for 6 p.m. Staff from KYTC and project team members will be available to answer questions. Displays will be available for review at the meeting. Handouts containing information about the project and comment sheets will be available for those who want to provide feedback to help with the planning process. Before and after the 6 p.m. presentation, the public can review displays and provide comments. Written and oral comments will be accepted during the meeting. After the meeting, materials and displays will be available on the project website at www.US51bridge.com. The project team has started a new round of geotechnical exploration and analysis to aid pier design and in future construction of the new bridge. A lift boat has started drilling to collect data on soil density in the Ohio River where the new bridge will be constructed. Construction of the new bridge is tentatively scheduled to start in 2028, based on funding availability. The new bride is expected to take four to five years to complete. 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 existing U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge opened to traffic on Nov 11, 1936. Kentucky and Illinois highway departments took over maintenance of the structure in November 1948 when tolls were removed. The U.S. 51 Ohio River 'Cairo' Bridge is a north-south connector for U.S. 51 and an east-west transportation corridor for U.S. 60 and U.S. 62. The bridge carries about 6,600 vehicles per day between Kentucky and Illinois. About 40 percent of the traffic is commercial trucks. The existing Wickliffe-Cairo Bridge crosses the Ohio River at navigation mile point 980.4. PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING
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