Kentucky State Police plan to BLOCK southbound traffic on the US 41 Twin Bridges between Henderson and Evansville Friday morning, May 10, 2019.
Southbound traffic on the US 41 Twin Bridges will be blocked for about 2 hours starting at approximately 9:30 a.m., CDT, on Friday, to allow follow-up documentation for a crash reconstruction investigation.
Southbound traffic on the US 41 Twin Bridges will be blocked from approximately 9:30 a.m., CDT, to about 11:30 a.m., CDT, Friday.
During the southbound blockage, traffic will be alternated at about 5 minute intervals along the northbound bridge to allow some traffic from each direction to keep moving during the southbound closure. There will be a substantial police presence to assist with traffic control.
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet personnel, Kentucky State Police, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, the Henderson Police Department, and Henderson County Emergency Management developed a plan for use during emergency incidents that block traffic flow in one direction or the other on the US 41 Twin Bridges.
By allowing alternating flow along the open bridge, some traffic in each direction can continue moving. The movement of traffic at about 5 minute intervals is to aid in the response to emergencies on the bridges. It will allow ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles responding to an emergency to more easily move on and off the bridges. That, in turn, is expected to improve response time and help to speed up the clearance of crash sites.
Last Monday’s crash on the southbound bridge was the first opportunity for emergency agencies to activate the new response plan. Alternating flow will be used on Friday to facilitate the crash reconstruction investigation on the southbound bridge. KYTC and the various emergency agencies will continue to refine the new response plan based on future emergency response efforts.
Again, southbound traffic on the US 41 Twin Bridges will be blocked from about 9:30 a.m., to about 11:30 a.m., CDT, on Friday morning. Traffic flow will be alternated on the northbound bridge at about 5 minute intervals during the closure.
Motorists should use appropriate caution and be prepared to encounter stopped traffic as they approach the US 41 Twin Bridges. Extended delays are likely.
The US 41 Twin Bridges, also known as the Bi-State Viet Nam Gold Star Memorial Bridges, are located at US 41 mile point 19.649 about a mile south of the Kentucky-Indiana State Line. They carry approximately 40,000 vehicles per day across the Ohio River between Henderson, KY, and Evansville, IN.
The bridges are about a mile downstream from the confluence of the Green River and the Ohio River at Ohio River navigation mile point 786.8.
The northbound bridge was opened to traffic on July 4, 1932. The southbound bridge was opened to traffic on December 16, 1965.
The Twin Bridges have a total length of 5, 393.6 ft. with a 720 ft. main navigation span. The bridge superstructure is a Warren cantilevered through-truss design.
As a reminder, the Indiana Department of Transportation has a bridge and pavement rehabilitation project between the US 41 Twin Bridges and the I-69 Interchange with US 41. This work zone for the Fix for 41 project remains active into the summer of 2019.