The Valley View Bridge is a trio of steel multi-stringer highway girder bridges that carry Interstate 480 over the Cuyahoga River valley in Valley View and Independence, Ohio. They are 215 ft high and 4150 ft long.

History

The bridges opened in 1977 providing access to the nearby Willow Freeway (I-77). In 1999, the Ohio Department of Transportation painted the bridge a red-primer color, replacing the original gray. In 2010, the bridge received the honorary name "Union Workers Memorial Bridge". In 2011, ODOT began a project to retrofit the bridge's parapets. The work includes installing new fences and moving the overhead lighting to the outside of the structures. The estimated cost of construction was $4.4 million. In 2016, ODOT announced that a third bridge would be built in between the two outer bridges, which then would undergo extended repairs. The third bridge, whose construction was from 2018 to 2020, was retained after the bridge replacement phase ended in 2022, creating a bypass of the interchanges on each end of the bridge, functioning as express lanes. The ribbon cutting for the middle bridge occurred on June 12, 2023. A pair of peregrine falcons nests under the bridge.

Accidents

The city of Valley View has jurisdiction over the bridge, and they have been assisted by the police and fire departments from Garfield Heights and Independence.