Cincinnati NOT responsible for Brent Spence backups

AN EDITORIAL

Last weekend's traffic snarl on the Brent Spence Bridge had nothing to do with the City of Cincinnati, though people like Michelle McGuffin of Elizabethtown, Kentucky seem to think so.

Scheduled maintenance to remove crumbling concrete on the bridge shut down two lanes on southbound I-75 and I-71, including lanes on both approaches to the bridge. Traffic was brought to a near stop, backing up as far as the Mitchell Avenue exit and causing waits of several hours.

The project was completed in time for Monday's rush hour.

Many people were caught off-guard by the construction, which was moved to the weekend to lessen its traffic impact.

So why did so many get stuck? Local media was saturated with information on the closure, including the very same paper that published Ms. McGuffin's letter.

And for those from out of town, where was ARTIMIS? Did their signs display information on the backup and suggest alternate routes? I never travel the interstates within the metro, so I don't know firsthand, but I have heard that north of I-275 they certainly did*.

How many people chose to ignore that advice, causing problems to be worse than they had to be?

The sad fact is that these poor souls sitting in traffic had plenty of time to study the City's skyline, and were therefore left with the (mistaken) impression that this was all Cincinnati's fault.

Perhaps Ms. McGuffin should stop writing letters to the editor and should concentrate her anger on ODOT, which could have probably done a better job of diverting traffic away from the trouble spot.

Better yet, she should fire off some letters to her own elected officials in Frankfort, who have been dragging their feet on this bridge problem for far too long, making these types of piecemeal repairs necessary.

Unfortunately, ignorance is the basis for the vast majority of the negative impressions of this City both locally and regionally. As supporters of this City, we can't just sit back and let this kind of thinking go on by.

Oh, well. At least she liked the Zoo.

* To be fair, if your point of entry to southbound I-75 had been Mitchell Avenue or Hopple Street, you were probably screwed.