The Ohio Department of Transportation will begin replacing the 9th Street bridge over U.S. Route 30 in East Liverpool on Monday, resulting in a 150-day closure of the bridge.

The bridge will close to all traffic in both directions beginning March 24. A detour will direct drivers on 9th Street from the east side of the bridge to Dresden Avenue, then to West 8th Street, to Lisbon Street, and back to 9th Street. The detour will be reversed for traffic traveling in the opposite direction.

In preparation for the bridge work, the U.S. Route 30 westbound ramp to State Route 7 southbound will close for three days, from March 24 to March 26. Drivers needing to access State Route 7 southbound from U.S. Route 30 westbound will be detoured west on U.S. 30 westbound to the State Route 170/Calcutta/East Palestine exit, then to State Route 170, to U.S. 30 eastbound, and finally to State Route 7 southbound.

ODOT has announced that a similar closure of the State Route 7 northbound ramp to U.S. Route 30 eastbound will occur at a later, unspecified date.

After the initial ramp closure, U.S. Route 30 traffic traveling under the bridge will be maintained for most of the project. However, lane closures on U.S. Route 30 will be necessary later for bridge painting.

The project is expected to last 150 days.