Madison Road To Reopen

Water Main Installation Complete

The City of Cincinnati plans to reopen Madison Road overnight tonight. The City expects to open all four lanes of traffic on Madison between Ibsen and Ridge Avenues and the eastbound detour to be removed prior to tomorrow morning’s rush hour.

The lane restrictions and detour were put in place for the installation of two water mains by Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW). One is a transmission main, which consists of pipes that are more than four feet wide and 20 feet long. Each pipe weighs 20,000 pounds. Crews also installed a 16-inch water main that is used to deliver water to residences.

Once Madison is reopened, crews will again close Ibsen between Ridge and Madison to all but local traffic. This closure is expected to remain in place for the duration of this project. When complete, Ibsen will terminate at the new portion of Kennedy Avenue instead of Madison.

The original construction plans called for this part of the Kennedy Connector project to last more than two months. Working with its contractors, the City of Cincinnati put in place a more aggressive construction plan that had crews working seven straight days during most weeks. The new plan resulted in a closure of just 29 days.

"We wanted to expedite the work on Madison Road because travelers in that corridor have experienced a lot of construction the past few years," said Jared McFaddin, Senior Engineer. "The hard work by the contractor, coupled with cooperative weather, allowed us to get this project done in less than a month."

There will continue to be daily lane closures on Madison, between Ridge and Steel Place. During these lane closures, which will take place between morning and evening rush hours, at least one lane in both directions will remain open. The lanes will be closed while crews work to connect homes to the new 16-inch water main.

GCWW still has to test the large transmission main, which will not take place until the remainder of that line is constructed from Madison to Duck Creek Road along the new Kennedy alignment. That is slated to be completed next year. Once the 48-inch water main is tested by GCWW, Madison Road will be completely resurfaced from curb-to-curb between Ridge and Ibsen.

Waiting until later allows the City to resurface the road knowing that it will not have to tear a section out for possible repairs to the line. Testing just this part of the new section before the main extends to Duck Creek would prove to be too costly.

The Kennedy Connector project will build a new extension of Kennedy Avenue that will connect Duck Creek and Madison Roads. The new road will improve traffic flow and safety. It also will provide new opportunities for economic development. The project began this spring and is expected to take nearly two years to complete.