Staff report
The Purple People Bridge will partially reopen at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 24.
The bridge has been closed since Sunday, when a piece of sandstone fell from it on the Ohio side and an engineering firm was called in for a safety inspection.
WSP, the engineering firm, has completed an inspection of the entire bridge and has determined the bridge is safe to partially reopen with some restrictions while repairs are made.
Events scheduled on the bridge will be allowed to proceed.
Barriers will be installed on the bridge deck of the Cincinnati approach to prevent pedestrians from fully crossing the bridge from the City of Newport into the City of Cincinnati.
Therefore, the bridge will remain closed to through traffic between Kentucky and Ohio until further notice.
Access to the bridge will be limited only to the Kentucky side of the river.
The bridge was closed on the afternoon of Sunday, May 19, after a piece of sandstone broke off on the Cincinnati side of the bridge. No injuries were reported.
“We continue to ask for the public’s patience while we work diligently with all parties involved to fully reopen the bridge as soon as possible,” said Will Weber, president & CEO of Southbank Partners which owns and operates the iconic Purple People Bridge.