Anyone planning to drive to southeast Missouri in the next month should be aware that the U.S. 51 Ohio River “Cairo” Bridge in southern Illinois will be closed for about a month, beginning 6:30 Saturday morning.
The bridge is expected to remain closed to around August 31 to allow extensive maintenance work along a nearly two-mile section of the Kentucky approach levee, according to a news release. The closure will also accelerate an ongoing deck and expansion joint maintenance project on the bridge.
The U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge serves as an important north-south connection for U.S. 51, as well as an east-west connection for U.S. 60 and U.S. 62. The bridge carries about 7,000 vehicles per day between Kentucky and Illinois. About a third of the traffic on the bridge is commercial trucks.
When the bridge closes Aug. 1, a normal 5-mile drive from Wickliffe, Kentucky, to Cairo, Illinois, will become an 80-mile detour via the Interstate 24 Ohio River Bridge at Paducah.
The Dorena-Hickman Ferry which normally offers a viable alternative for some local commuters will be out of service through Tuesday.