Mr Sparkle

Local paper from Hamilton. I'm sure it has been linked on UrbanOhio before

http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/west-chester-to-consider-diverging-diamond-design-/npZg2/

No I haven't looked to see how they're going to do it. They haven't really worked on that section yet, other than putting up some hideous sound walls. In other news, the construction sites are unbelievably dangerous. I can't believe we aren't having more severe accidents. Last night we had someone on heroin cause a serious wreck: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/12/17/pd-dad-odd-flipped-suv-multi-car--75-crash/77471150/ No highway can be made safe for someone who is high.

^ the engineering field is very risk-adverse. You would have to ban pedestrian access to the street in question; since lack of walks does not prohibit pedestrians. If someone in a wheelchair was crossing an intersection and was struck by a car since he could not mount the curb due to a lack of a curb cut, the liability would fall on the designer. This is different from a lack of an elevator in an older building, which is more of an inconvenience. If the same person in the wheelchair got struck by a car when he choose to stay on the roadway and not use the curb cut then its a different story. The ADA itself is addressed in the Code of Federal Regulations. I agree that more pedestrian facilities need to be constructed, and you should notice that in recent times more and more projects are including them. Its that "black hole" from 1960's thru the mid to late 80's where no new developments or roadways had pedestrian facilities. Some communities built in that era are now investing in retro-fitting sidewalks and such; Anderson and Symmes Township come to mind. They have some amount of density that in some parts it does make sense to walk.

This is a codified requirement of the ADA all traffic signals, no matter where they are located, must provided accommodation for folks with disabilities (e.g curb ramps, detectable warnings and/or audible crossing signals), even if no other pedestrian facilities are present. This is due to the fact that the lack of pedestrian facilities does not prohibit pedestrians from using the right of way and the ADA requirements still must be met.

Sorry, I meant in the terms of a road diet --- so more of the municipal side of things with lower speeds. An added benefit, too, is for pedestrian safety. Combined with raised curved refuge islands, mid block pedestrian crossings can be accommodated with the three-lane scheme

Its been proven, in certain situations and ADT's, that a 3 lane road (2 thru with one center turn lane) is MUCH safer than a 4 lane w/o turn lanes without a reduction in capacity

http://www.mikeontraffic.com/numbers-every-traffic-engineer-should-know/ Ideal capacity of one lane is 1,900 vehicles per hour --- however to get actual capacity, reduction factors are applied based on actual lane configuration (width etc)

The Lytle Tunnel ventilation (and fire protection) is just being brought up to today's standard from the 1960's era standards. Maybe it appears much larger is due to a backup ventilation system? The pit is for the new systems and is being constructed astride the existing tunnel. The Lytle tunnel and the FWW tunnel cannot be connected, bridges over Broadway separate the two areas. The lowest part of the Lytle tunnel is at about elevation 505 (NB tube), the lowest part of the FWW trench is about elevation 489. The SB tube is higher and the 3rd Street Ramp is in its own tube. This all would make using the Lytle Tunnel ventilation system difficult. Also, the residents would not be too happy iff all the exhaust from FWW was brought into the Lytle Park area!

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2015/10/07/fifty-west-brewing-plans-15-million-expansion/73445086/

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D08/Newsreleases/Pages/I-75-Ramp-closure-scheduled-for-film-crew-use.aspx

...said the Odds makers that had OSU giving 34 points?

Actually, Atari’s Pong is More Up-To-Date than Traffic Signal Warrant Research. The technology used in traffic signals and equipment actually is quite advanced ---warrants being the criteria needed to be met to actually install a traffic signal

700 MPH in a tube needs a perfect alignment, how is that going to be accomplished with multiple piers and footings over many types of soil? Differential settlement will be a major issue.

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Engineering/Consultant/Consultant/announce.pdf

Last Friday, for example, when travel times from I-275 down to the River on both I-71 and I-75 where well over an hour, buses will be of no use. A lite rail vote held now would have a better result. The media outlets you mention cater to a certain age of individual. They live all over and are not exclusive to West Chester. I think the City/Suburb divide you speak of exists only in that age bracket. My peers (and I) embrace the City and go down often. That being said, my reason for not attending the ASG certainly did not hinge on getting or not getting there easily.

Wrong, the viewing party was part of All Star Neighborhoods initiative and involved games etc prior to the ASG: http://www.wcpo.com/sports/baseball/reds/all-star-game/10-tri-state-all-star-neighborhoods-are-celebrating-baseball-with-these-events Why make the assumption that anyone who lives in West Chester has a deep seated animosity towards the City, have no care what happens there and refuse to enter Cincy? It wasn't just a deep seated animosity I was getting at, some of it was more practical not wanting to deal with parking/cost of parking given the number of people downtown without realizing there were ways to get around that. The city-suburb divide in Cincy is a very real issue though I'm sure it doesn't affect everyone. However, what is your source for claiming that the viewing party was held just for folks wanted to avoid parking/congestion issues?

Wrong, the viewing party was part of All Star Neighborhoods initiative and involved games etc prior to the ASG: http://www.wcpo.com/sports/baseball/reds/all-star-game/10-tri-state-all-star-neighborhoods-are-celebrating-baseball-with-these-events Why make the assumption that anyone who lives in West Chester has a deep seated animosity towards the City, have no care what happens there and refuse to enter Cincy?

Those folks would complain about the sunrise --- they exist in every city.

Roughly 1/8 of the total VOA area is the strip mall

The Backstory on it: http://www.bjginc.com/What-We-Do/I80-Walgreens/i80-walgreens.html "air rights" structure for future casino constructed when I-80 was built --- sat as an undeveloped pad for a long time

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/06/10/brewdog-confirms-central-ohio-brewery-restaurant.html See Also: https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/dog-bless-america

This is an FHWA policy, despite the State DOT's funding and design of the interstate reconstruction, changes to interchanges (Interchange Modification - IMS) or new interchanges (IJS) must be approved by the FHWA and left hand exits and partial interchanges are verboten. https://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Engineering/Roadway/studies/Pages/IJSandIMS.aspx Interstate System Access Informational Guide - FHWA http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/design/interstate/pubs/access/index.cfm 6.2.2 Interchange Configuration and Spacing ....Left-hand entrances and exits to the Interstate are contrary to driver expectation and may bring slower-moving ramp traffic into the higher-speed mainline lanes. With the exception of direct entrances to HOV or managed lanes, left-hand entrances should be avoided. 6.2.11 Issues with Partial Interchanges Drivers have the expectation that when they exit the Interstate, they will be able to enter again, either to continue their journey in the same direction or make the return trip. Partial system interchanges affect regional travel by forcingdrivers who remain on the Interstate System to follow other corridors on the return journey and may take them many miles off course. Partial system interchanges also eliminate the opportunity to use alternate freeway corridors to maintain traffic operations during construction, traffic incidents, special events, or emergencies. In the rare and extraordinary circumstances that consideration is given to a partial interchange, way-finding signage is critical for the routes to which traffic is diverted, whether surface streets or another freeway corridor. With local development having multiple approaches to the Interstate, adequate signage can be difficult to achieve. Additional improvements may also be needed to increase capacity on those corridors providing the movements not available at the interchange. Even when there is sufficient and compelling justification for consideration of a partial interchange, there are long-term considerations to take into account. If all movements are not provided when the interchange is first constructed, it may not be possible to ever build the missing movements even when a need for them emerges. With consideration of a partial interchange, priority should be given to a design that will accommodate the later addition of the missing movements and to preservation of right-of-way. ibid. Local Road access within System interchanges are not allowed 6.2 GEOMETRIC DESIGN STANDARDS ....Satisfying the need for access between the Interstate System and the local highway and street network becomes more complicated when attempted within the vicinity of a system interchange. To every extent possible, system movements should be preserved as separate and independent of service movements to avoid mixed speed environments and to keep related signing clear and simple. When this is not possible, other solutions, such as the use of collector-distributor roadways, may help to overcome some challenges, but designers should be careful to avoid introducing movements that are counterintuitive or confusing to a motorist.

The $1.2 billion represents the construction cost, bond financing, transaction and maintenance costs over 35 years. Maybe that will open the public's eyes since that is the 'real' cost of a road over time (Essentially operating costs). Typically -- only speak in up-front construction costs.

Interesting.....GMO organisms have been around quite some time .... https://jameskennedymonash.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/artificial-natural-corn1.pdf https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/artificial-vs-natural-watermelon-sweetcorn/