CLEVELAND, Ohio — Interstate 90 closes in both directions through downtown Cleveland tonight, Friday, November 13, as crews demolish two bridges over the highway in the first of two full weekend shutdowns tied to the $328 million I-90 Central Interchange Project. The Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 12 announced the closures, which News 5 Cleveland and Spectrum News 1 reported on November 5.
The closed section runs between Central Avenue and just east of Carnegie Avenue, on the southeast edge of downtown where I-90 meets I-77. The first closure runs from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 p.m. Saturday, November 14 — about 20 hours. The ramp from northbound I-77 to eastbound I-90 is also closed during the work, according to ODOT’s announcement as reported by WKYC.
The reason for shutting a downtown interstate outright is the demolition itself. The East 22nd Street and Cedar Avenue bridges cross directly over I-90, and both closed to traffic on November 1. Dropping those spans safely requires an empty highway underneath, which is why ODOT is doing the work in full weekend closures rather than overnight lane restrictions.
A second, longer closure follows next weekend: I-90 shuts again from 8 p.m. Friday, November 20, to 6 a.m. Monday, November 23 — about 58 hours — to continue the demolition. Drivers with downtown plans either weekend, including events near Cleveland State University, should build in detour time.
The two bridges are being treated differently after demolition. The Cedar Avenue bridge closes permanently, while the East 22nd Street bridge will be reconstructed and is expected to reopen in 2027. The interchange project as a whole replaces pavement and bridges originally built in the early 1960s, and ODOT does not expect the full project to finish until summer 2032.
The project behind the closures is larger than the two bridges coming down this month. The I-90 Central Interchange Project, which broke ground in April, overhauls the corridor between East 9th Street and Carnegie Avenue where I-90, I-77 and downtown surface streets knot together, and it forms part of ODOT’s Cleveland Innerbelt Modernization Plan for the I-71, I-77 and I-90 corridors. Related closures elsewhere in the project area, including ramps and surface streets around East 14th and East 22nd, run on their own multi-month schedules alongside the headline interstate weekends.
For commuters, the immediate effect is concentrated but predictable: Friday evening’s rush will be normal, since the closure starts at 9 p.m., but late-night downtown traffic and all of Saturday’s cross-town trips are affected until the 5 p.m. reopening. Anyone crossing downtown Saturday should use the interstate system around the closure rather than Carnegie Avenue surface traffic, which absorbs the diverted flow.
These are only the first such weekends. ODOT said in its news release, as quoted by Spectrum News 1, that 18 closures of I-90 through the project area are expected over the life of the work, ordered for public safety during demolition and construction phases. Cleveland drivers should expect the pattern — quiet weekdays, fully closed weekends — to recur.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
Confirmed from ODOT District 12’s announcement: the closed limits (Central Avenue to just east of Carnegie Avenue), tonight’s 9 p.m. start and Saturday’s 5 p.m. reopening, next weekend’s November 20–23 closure, and the I-77 northbound to I-90 eastbound ramp closure. Still to be posted by the city and ODOT closer to the hour: any additional surface-street restrictions around the demolition zone tonight. All work is weather dependent and subject to change.
The practical advice for tonight is straightforward: through traffic should stay on the posted interstate detours rather than filtering onto downtown surface streets, and anyone headed to or from the southeast side of downtown after 9 p.m. should expect the Central–Carnegie corridor to be a construction zone, not a shortcut. The next concrete step is tonight’s 9 p.m. closure itself, followed by the longer November 20–23 shutdown.
Cuyahoga County readers following the region’s other difficult news this week can also read our coverage from neighboring Summit and Cuyahoga communities, including Three Found Dead in North Royalton Home in Apparent Double Murder-Suicide.
By Saturday evening, if the schedule holds, I-90 reopens and downtown traffic returns to normal — for six days, until the second demolition weekend begins.
Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY