cincybearcat

Two great locations to bring up a family, but for singles it sucks. I can't wait till I move into the city.

But I am saying for right now, add the extra lane, because it is only 3 lanes going north, and eliminate the ramp.

I wonder if any thought has been put into adding another northbound lane between I-275 and the Brent Spence. If the 2nd street ramp was taken out, the fourth lane could be added easily, and the ramp could be taken out because it is not safe getting on the freeway at that point. Covington could improve the C-D and I think it would add some capacity for a relative low price.

Considering how many people work in Cincinnati from Butler County, paying the city 2.1% income tax, it seems stupid not to have mass transit. But I guess this could help encourage people to stay in Cincinnati, get mass transit along with paying the income tax.

Does anyone know why I-275 around I-71 is only 4 lanes wide? There is enough pavement for 6 lanes, but it seems that the state decided not to paint in extra lanes. Seems kinda silly that traffic is stopped and it could be moving if there was an extra lane.

Well, then Hamilton and Warren counties should push for expansion of Mont. Rd. It is needed very badly. I hope By-pass 4 gets expanded as quickly as possible, because its just a huge mess now, it seems a lot of our roads are too small! Better yet, expand busing into Butler county, now theres an idea OKI.

My question then is, how do cities like Chicago, Washington D.C., New York run all of their commuter trains? I would be willing to guess that a schedule could be worked out if the region really wanted to do this type of thing.

Exactly, I have seen the maps and near the tracks are some large pockets of people. I don't know the cost of running diesel commuter trains, but I could guess we could get 2-3 trains cheap from Amtrak! Also, I think instead of using Union Terminal, is there enough room down on the riverfront to put in a line? I thought I saw plans with light rail and commuter trains both on street level.

I understand the I-71 deal, but my main question is, why not use existing tracks and create a diesel commuter train? Seems easier to do instead of laying all new track.

The interchange is supposed to happen after the widening of 275, which starts in 2007. Who knows what will happen with it. I would guess something like the I-70/75 interchange in Dayton would look like what the I-75/275 interchange would look like. I am a fan of the hugh stacks in Texas, so I think that would be cool to see. I can't find a website on the 275 upgrade, so I don't know what it will look like. I guess I could call my buddy at ODOT and see what he knows.

I agree, why build the light rail up I-71 instead of I-75? Seems that I-75 would be a much better route, because it goes through the center of the metro and could grab the most people to ride. If it ran up to West Chester, I would take it to go downtown or even tri-county. But if this doesn't happen, I dont know why a commuter train isn't considered. They are bigger, but it seems that rail lines run to many northern and eastern suburbs, so I think diesel trains might be more cost efficent because we can use already existant rail lines. Then rehab Union Terminal, and send shuttle buses into downtown, Queensgate, and Northern Kentucky.

Ok, well building a brand new freeway would cost a whole lot of money, bridges along the route will be easy to widen and/or eliminate. I agree with sending trucks around 275, but Ohio is afraid to push truck traffic on 275 to Kentucky. I don't know why this is such a big deal, I was also told that it would be to hard to enforce the by-pass. I say bullshit! I don't think all the trucks that go through Cincy are local, just send the police after trucks instead of commuters. I like the at-grade express lane option the best, but I would also like to see what happens with the C-D system being extended. If the express lanes were built, does anyone know where they would end? The drawings show them continuing under 275.

I agree that I-471 should connect back to the I-71/75 split, this would be worthwhile and would make trucks take this route to I-275 and then up to I-71 or 75. The connector on the north side between I-71/75 will be built, I can't understand why the farmers are upset about a highway taking their land, because in 5-10 years, it will all be housing anyways, so heres an idea, plan ahead and build the highway now. I am glad our freeway system is getting fixed, its a piece of junk. It is in terrible shape, very dangerous, and needs the expansion badly. After this is done, then I say Cincinnati should move foward with light rail, but not until the freeways are in good shape.

With $150 million going to Fields-Ertel interchange, I think a very real possibility would be a multi-level structure. I-71, Fields-Ertel, and Mason-Mont on their own levels, with direct connector ramps on another level. This would be a huge structure, but with the money planned and the amount of traffic, this would work the best for keeping traffic from backing up.

I am guessing that the roundabout will have 2 lanes, but a third inside lane could be added. Modern roundabouts are different than older traffic circles or rotaries. At the enterence into the roundabout, there will be a yield sign, so if the roundabout is busy, traffic will back up on the ramps, but traffic will be moving, not at a stop like at lights or signs. Scale looks to be small, just large enough to keep traffic moving, unlike large traffic circles where fountains and small plazas are located in the center, these will have grass and flowers I would guess. My drawing is not perfect, so allow the roundabout to expand west on Hopple, but not too much more because I don't think the properties to the south are going to be purchased.

Well, here is another photo showing the future I-75/275 interchange. This should happen during or right after the current project is finished. Original Photo By: Larry Stulz

*Edit* Plans changed, Roundabout no longer considered.

This looks nice, would be better in the city, but at least its not all the same house, condo, or apartment going up like I see in West Chester/Mason.

Wow, its getting far! I dont really like the big black box, whats up with that?

Grasscat: Thank you for fixing the link, I posted very quickly and did not realize I had a mistake. From looking through the plans and their costs, express lanes will not happen, not at a cost of $600 million. I see 4-5 lanes with aux between the exits. If the express were tolled, then I could see it happening, but the project has $135 million right now. Perhaps the revenue from bonds for a toll road could cover the cost of the express lanes, who knows.

The Alternatives are online for the project: http://www.thruthevalley.com/exhibits2.html

People think crime in Cincinnati is really high. Take a look at many other large cities, I think we're doing ok. The Media makes it look like hell is breaking loose every night, no wonder the nation thinks Cincinnati is all about the riots and nothing else. The riots were way too much, Police do overstep their boundries sometimes, but we can't dwell on this all the time. Lets move on, stuff happens, people die. Most of the crimes and murders have something to do with drugs, so thats what we should crack down on.

My bet is with option 1, then option 3. Since the Brent Spence is ok, I don't think they really need to take it down. If they put 71/75 on the same bridge, it would be cool to see one of the levels of the Brent Spence used for a light rail line to N. Kentucky.

The Mill Creek Expressway project website has the alternatives already up and are also in PDF format. It seems that roundabouts are very popular at ODOT.

I like the at-grade mainline capacity option. We can't keep it how it is, and express lanes will cost too much. Thru the Valley is from Paddock to I-275, and the Mill Creek Expressway project runs from Western Hills Viaduct to Paddock. I don't know why RR Cross County was asked about, nothing is ever going to happen with that road. If I-74 does go across southern Ohio, it will be routed around on I-275, plus Indian Hill doesn't want another freeway through their "Expensive" village. I can see I-75 being 8-10 lanes with aux between exits. The interchanges need to be worked on, but that is in the Mill Creek Expressway project with the I-74, Hopple Street, and Western Hills Viaduct interchanges. www.i75millcreekexpressway.com www.thruthevalley.com