Photo provided Ohio Department of Transportation announce both lanes of the historic Blaine Hill Bridge will be open to traffic on July 1.

BLAINE — The Ohio Department of Transportation has announced both lanes of the historic Blaine Hill Bridge will reopen to traffic July 1.

On Wednesday, Ohio Department of Transportation District 11 Public Information Officer Lauren Borell announced on social media that the bridge officially has an opening date.

Borell said it originally was thought only one lane of traffic would reopen at first, with traffic signals allowing vehicles to travel in both directions, but that is no longer the case.

“We’re going to get everything done at once so when it opens, the whole bridge will be open to traffic,” Borell said. “We’re very excited to see this bridge reopen. Just last July was when demolition was heavily underway, and here we are almost a year later and we’re going to see traffic on the bridge. It’ll be very exciting for the local community to utilize this bridge again.”

She added it will be great to see the historic structure maintained for many years to come.

In July 2024, ODOT restricted traffic on the Blaine Hill Bridge after the span showed structural issues that raised safety concerns.

ODOT initially closed the westbound lanes of the bridge on U.S. 40 “out of an abundance of caution” while working to address structural deficiencies. Soon after, ODOT and the Ohio State Highway Patrol received multiple reports of drivers either not understanding or not obeying posted signs and traveling west in the open eastbound lanes. Officials said this led to several close calls that could have caused serious traffic collisions.

Borell said Beaver Excavating Co. is in the final stages of construction.

“We’re in the final stages, and the weather has been favorable, and they’ve been able to continue to work on it every day,” Borell said. “Right now they’re working on the bridge’s parapets.”

She added the bridge is now 42 days away from reopening.