LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will close Interstate 71 this weekend in Louisville.
Crews will demolish the old Brownsboro Road bridge over I-71 on Friday and Saturday nights. For safety, the road below will be closed.
"Unfortunately, we'll have material dropping from the bridge into the roadway," said Chris Slone, project manager for KYTC I-Move. "So on Friday night, we'll be closing northbound to tear down the north side of that bridge, and Saturday night will be the southbound lanes."
Beginning at 10 p.m., all northbound lanes will be closed between Interstate 265 and KY 329. The southbound lanes will then close Saturday night. A 9-mile detour will be posted. The closures start at 10 p.m. both nights and end at 6 a.m.
Traffic on I-71 will be detoured between I-265 at mile point 9.1 and KY 329 at mile point 14.5.
Drivers Friday can take the following detour: I-71 northbound to I-265 southbound to KY 22 east (Brownsboro Road) to KY 329 to I-71 northbound.
Drivers Saturday can take the following detour: I-71 southbound to KY 329 east to KY 22 (Ballardsville Road) to I-265 northbound to I-71 southbound.
Slone said taking this bridge down is a necessary part of the overall I-Move project.
"That bridge has reached the end of its design life, and honestly, the vertical clearance no longer meets today's standards for vertical clearance on interstates," he said. "So the new bridge is brand new, taller, more functional, and hopefully it'll serve us for the next 75 years."
Traffic on Brownsboro road will not be impacted.
Slone said drivers will likely start using the new bridge on Brownsboro Road as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
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