Kenton County commuters heading north on I-71/75 through Fort Wright are losing lanes during overnight work hours as Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project crews work a 2.5-mile stretch from Kyles Lane to the Kentucky/Ohio state line.

The closures start at 8 p.m. with one lane shut down, escalate to a double lane closure at 11 p.m., and reopen by 6 a.m. At least one lane remains open at all times, according to the project's travel advisory page. The advisory does not specify an end date for the nightly pattern.

Separately, a restriping project on I-71/75 in Covington between West Fifth Street and West 12th Street began Friday, July 10 and is expected to wrap up by Friday, July 31, weather permitting. Once complete, the restriping will shift all lanes toward the median to make room for construction staging.

Ramp closures stretch into 2027

Two Covington ramps closed June 8 and won't reopen anytime soon:

  • I-71/75 northbound off-ramp to 12th Street/MLK Jr. Blvd. (Exit 191): Closed through summer 2027. The detour routes drivers to the 5th Street exit, then through a series of turns on Philadelphia Street, 4th Street, Pike Street, Simon Kenton Way, and MLK Blvd.
  • I-71/75 southbound on-ramp from 12th Street/MLK Jr. Blvd.: Closed through October 2026. The detour sends drivers along Pike Street and Dixie Highway to Kyles Lane in Fort Wright to access I-71/75 southbound.

That southbound detour funnels traffic directly through Fort Wright via Kyles Lane, a route the city has been watching closely. Fort Wright City Council discussed the Kyles Lane overpass redesign and planned roundabouts at its November 20, 2024 caucus meeting and again at a December 18, 2024 special meeting, with Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineers presenting safety and design changes. Mayor Dave Hatter and council members raised questions about how roundabouts would affect local traffic flow.

The concern isn't new. In April 2021, Hatter noted that bridge-related construction was already pushing semi-truck cut-through traffic onto East and West Henry Clay Avenue, a residential connector between Kyles Lane and Highland Avenue. The city passed a commercial truck ban on those streets.

$4.05 billion project broke ground in May

The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project broke ground May 8, launching the first phase of a project that will build a new cable-stayed companion bridge west of the existing span. The existing bridge, built in the 1960s for roughly 80,000 vehicles per day, now carries about 160,000. More than $1 billion in freight crosses the corridor daily.

The companion bridge is expected to open in 2031, with approach work substantially complete by 2033. The project corridor spans eight miles of I-71/I-75 in Kentucky and I-75 in Ohio.

At the May 8 groundbreaking, TANK General Manager Gina Douthat said the agency's buses cross the Brent Spence Bridge nearly 200 times each day and encouraged Northern Kentucky commuters to try transit during the construction period.

What drivers should know

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet recommends I-471 and I-275 as alternate routes to avoid backups during overnight work hours. Bullock Avenue from Pike Street to the I-71/75 southbound on-ramp at 12th Street is closed through October 2026, and 12th Street between Simon Kenton Way and Bullock Avenue is closed through 2033.

The Kenton County Government Center at 1840 Simon Kenton Way remains accessible during construction. The Simon Kenton Way entrance is expected to stay open through October 2026; after that, access shifts to Pike Street only.

Motorists can sign up for email and text alerts at BrentSpenceBridgeCorridor.com.