CINCINNATI – Kirby Avenue will be closed to all through traffic for the next month beginning tomorrow, Thursday, March 29, between Glenview Avenue and North Bend Road near Mt. Airy Forest so crews can make emergency repairs and install a pier wall along a stretch of road that sank during heavy rain and flooding this winter.

Motorists will be detoured via North Bend to Colerain, or North Bend to Belmont Avenue to Glenview.

Detour signs have been posted on site. Local access will be allowed.

The southbound lane of Kirby has been closed since the soil underneath the road washed out Feb. 26. The soil washed out likely due to saturation caused by surface runoff or slope movement.

The drop is near a pier wall installed several years ago when another section of the same road was undermined. The current repair, which is estimated at $63,000, will begin at the existing retaining wall and extend approximately 36 feet.

The contractor is Smith Construction.  

The City’s Department of Transportation & Engineering has applied for disaster relief funding from the Federal Highway Administration.

The Greater Cincinnati area endured widespread flooding along the Ohio River and in area creeks and tributaries in late February. The river crested at 60.53 feet.