DAYTON — The Salem Avenue Bridge will close for four years starting sometime in 2013 for the last phase of the Interstate 75 reconstruction project, and officials are now preparing reroutes to keep local traffic flowing.

No construction is being done to the bridge, but because streets will be realigned, bridge access will cease for a lengthy time period, the Ohio Department of Transportation said Friday.

The final I-75 phase will reconstruct the highway between Fifth Street and Riverview Avenue and replace highway ramps with a single, safer and less-congested central downtown interchange.

The interchange will serve traffic for First, Second and Third streets, Salem and Monument avenues. The construction contract for the $280 million project hasn’t been signed, said Ohio Department of Transportation spokeswoman Mandi Abner, but that is expected to happen in August. The project should be completed in 2016.

The Salem Avenue Bridge, rebuilt in 2001, carries a heavy load.

The most recent traffic count in 2003 found that 24,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.

The RTA plans for trolley service disruptions on the First and Third street bridges and along Robert Drive for the work.

John Thomas, chief maintenance officer for RTA, said Friday that the trolley will be rerouted and new poles and wires along a Riverview Avenue detour will be installed this fall. Thomas anticipates activating the detour in the first part of 2013. 

Keith Steeber, chief engineer for Dayton, said the city will begin repaving Riverview Avenue in the next month.

The last phase of the I-75 project will take some adjustments, he said.

“Like any roadway construction project, there will be inconveniences to the traveling public,” Steeber said.

“The overall goal is improvement to I-75, but there will be delays and detours during the course of the project. We ask for everyone’s patience,” Steeber said.

ODOT representatives are available on request to brief neighborhood associations, Abner said. An information campaign is under way to help make the project go as smoothly as possible, she added.

“We’ll be out in neighborhoods telling people what to expect,” Abner said.

ODOT has posted detailed information on the project at: www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D07/Projects/I75Modernization/Phase2/Pages/default.aspx