TOLEDO, Ohio — Travel plans might take a little longer this weekend if you plan on taking westbound I-475.
Leaders with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) plan to close a stretch of the highway between I-75 and US-23 from Friday night at 8 p.m. to Monday morning at 6 a.m.
"There will be no access to westbound through that whole stretch. Obviously, you can still take eastbound if that's part of your direction," ODOT Public Information Officer Rebecca D'Angelo said.
It's all part of an effort to repair an overpass that was struck by a semi in July. While deemed structurally sound for now, ODOT leadership wants to fix the overpass before it becomes a larger issue.
"Long term, we want a bridge to maintain itself as long as possible. So, looking at the long term, we wanted to do that repair," D'Angelo said.
ODOT representatives said Tuesday there is no safe way for their workers to repair the bridge without closing traffic, and they chose the weekend for the repairs because it would be the least intrusive time for commuters.
However, some large events will still have to reroute to get into town.
"The Western Michigan University vs. the University of Toledo game is a good example. We've been trying to communicate with both UT and WMU with trying to get their patrons to the game to try to avoid that westbound closure," Toledo Commissioner of Transportation Sean Burnett said.
Locally, city officials like Burnett expect to see more traffic on westbound flowing roads like Dorr and Alexis as people try to find alternate routes, but they said they aren't concerned that traffic will overflow too heavily.
"Those roads are pretty robust, I don't have any specific concerns about overflow, or you know, major backups. But, this is going to be a small inconvenience for people who are traveling in that direction," Burnett said.
Despite the I-475 West highway closure this weekend, ProMedica Toledo and Ebeid Children’s Hospitals will be open and operating as usual. Ambulances will still have immediate highway access to the hospitals.
People traveling to the hospitals in personal vehicles who would normally take 1-475 West are being asked to use other roads instead.