Brent Spence Bridge reopens all lanes to traffic

Motorists’ woes traveling on the Brent Spence Bridge may have come to an indefinite end now that an eight-month maintenance project is complete.

On Monday morning, all four lanes in each direction of the Brent Spence Bridge, plus on-ramps, reopened for travel. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet began a routine maintenance project in March, just a few months after the bridge was shut down completely for six weeks after a truck-involved crash led to a fire.

According to the transportation cabinet, crews installed overhead signs and what it called “pavement tattoos” on Sunday. A pavement tattoo is a form of sign that is painted on the road or bridge. Examples include paintings of interstate symbols, bus lanes and direction arrows. Another pavement tattoo is the painted white wheelchair on a blue square on handicapped parking spaces.

Due to the sign installations, most northbound lanes on the Brent Spence Bridge were closed on Sunday night. By 4 a.m. Monday morning, all lanes in all directions were open.

The eight-month planned routine maintenance began on March 1.

Maintenance included mostly cleaning and painting of the Brent Spence Bridge.

Scheduled to be completed on Nov. 15, fully reopening the project is one full week ahead of schedule.

Although there was never a full closure of the bridge, various lanes and ramps were closed throughout the maintenance period. However, that was a better situation than motorists experienced at the end of last year.

Maintenance is complete just three days shy of the one-year anniversary of a crash that involved two trucks on the Brent Spence Bridge. That crash caused a fire, shutting down the bridge. Specifically, the closure lasted six weeks. During that time, traffic was diverted to Interstates 275 and 471.

A major crossing on Interstate 75, the bridge closure led to Gov. Andy Beshear signing a regional state of emergency declaration. On average, more than 160,000 vehicles a day cross the Brent Spence Bridge, causing traffic congestion on the detours. LL