Hard to tell.  I'd say that it looks close to being finished, but that's what I thought several months ago.  Then they threw in those bizarre U-turns, concrete islands, and scary Klingon-Bird-of-Prey traffic lights.  I truly fear what comes next.

LOL!!!  Awesome second post.

I want to see what those lights look like. 

I biked through this intersection a few weeks ago.  It's definitely a hazardous biking environment, because the cars are moving in such a counter-intuitive way.  Incidentally a bike trail ends right there at Rt. 4 but does not join the roads at all.  Honestly I think it's too dangerous to have inexperienced bikers anywhere near this intersection. 

 

I want to see what those lights look like. 

 

Me too! Sounds like the coolest part of this project, based on Facepalm's description.

 

Make that the only cool part of this project.

I love referencing this article -- wacky traffic implements like superstreets and ramp meters are exactly what Cincinnatians asked for: http://urbn.cc/phj

I want to see what those lights look like. 

 

If it is like Austin Pike near Dayton, then it's just mast arms. Actually, it's nothing too special, but it does increase capacity at the intersections and actually does work very well. I would say that the minimal amount of pedestrian traffic that did cross the bypass will have an easier time now - there are several medians to hop on that (at least with Austin Pike) have pedestrian crossing buttons.

I want to see what those lights look like. 

 

If it is like Austin Pike near Dayton, then it's just mast arms. Actually, it's nothing too special, but it does increase capacity at the intersections and actually does work very well. I would say that the minimal amount of pedestrian traffic that did cross the bypass will have an easier time now - there are several medians to hop on that (at least with Austin Pike) have pedestrian crossing buttons.

 

They are the massive truss systems that are used for highway signage...but bigger than I've ever seen on a highway.

I actually drove this a few days ago. I figure ambulances and firetrucks will take more time to get to their destination, if they have to goto the other side of bypass 4.

The light structures that regulate those 'Roger Ramjet' U-turns look like de-cloaking Warbirds.

Is this project even needed now that DHL is gone? Or is this what we would call a "boondoggle"?

Wow, and I thought the old New Jersey jug handle was bad,  lol

Drove on this yesterday.  Stupid.  And those light structures are massive.

I didn't think it was too bad. After experiencing the enhanced intersection at Austin Boulevard and SR 747 near Dayton when it first opened and witnessing how smooth it operates at peak capacity, the new intersection will only enhance the traffic flow for SR 4.

 

And yes - the light gantries are huge. I am not sure what is with the upsizing of the poles and masts, but Kentucky has some damn large poles along rebuilt 12th Street in Covington and the largest that I've encountered was in Elizabethtown - a massive post and mast that spanned 12 lanes!

@ BallHatGuy:

Thank you!  It's a classic case of extreme overkill.  All that was needed was an extra northbound and southbound lane.

Well, the SR 4 bypass was designed as a super-two controlled-access expressway, with room for four-lanes. I believe that the time has long passed four-lane expansion, based on the AADT alone.

Well, you can call it the greatest thing since prehistoric mitosis, it's still a turd.  For those of us who have to deal with this super-duper-controlled-access-looked-like-a-great-idea-on-paper boondoggle several times a day, please forgive our reluctance to pay homage to ODOT, AADT, NORAD and/or NASA for this...gift.

Shows how much you know about transportation planning, and your reluctance to even look up basic acronyms. AADT = Average Annual Daily Traffic. Good job, wiseass.

 

We aren't talking about an urban highway in downtown Hamilton. This is in the suburbs, and was built as a Hamilton bypass for SR 4 in 1969.

No, it is still a turd.  AADT is one of those metrics that's "paid homage to" much to the detriment of everything else.  Engineers worship AADT stats.  The only important thing is flow, volume, capacity.  Never mind cost, safety, or value. 

 

This is a problem exactly because this complicated and expensive infrastructure is being built in a suburban area.  It provides no value to the surrounding area, and in fact decreases value because rather than a simple intersection it's more of an interchange.  Access is so limited that even the usual suburban crap that would normally gravitate to such an intersection (gas stations, fast food, maybe a small strip retail center) will probably not even bother because they'd have to build frontage roads and other complicated access that will only disperse the development more and require more paving, drainage, land, and utilities.  This is exactly the kind of infrastructure spending that has put our country in such a funding and maintenance bind, because it costs a lot of money to build and maintain, but it doesn't increase value, let alone allow the government to capture any value to try to repay the costs.

 

The gist of the matter is, the suburban pattern of development does not generate enough tax revenue to fund the ongoing maintenance costs of its infrastructure.  Ergo, more such infrastructure, like this bypass and its complicated intersections, causes a net monetary loss to the government and should not be built.

Again, it should be pointed out that the Miami-Erie bike path terminates nearby under the Rt. 4 bypass overpass and DOES NOT even link up to the road, not that you'd want it to.  Rt. 4 and bypass 4 are both total disasters.  It's like Texas.

 

 

@jjakucyk:  Your words are music, poetry even, to us, the unwashed masses who must suffer the yoke of bypass 4!  Why, there are some of us who don't even bother to look up the meanings of 'common' acronyms!

 

@ Shermie: LMFAO!

Funny how my first post here will be about how scary these new traffic signals look.

 

At first look, I thought it was just a single pole at the intersection corner carrying that HUGE ASS connected mess of metal across the intersection and started laughing but then had seen the other pole at the other side... WAYYY OVER. What's next? A spaghetti interchange at each of the signals. All they needed was 2 EXTRA LANES ON EACH SIDE AND A TURN LANE IN THE MIDDLE. NOT THIS WASTE OF MONEY THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED FOR 75!

 

By the way Facepalm you earned a spot on my signature I was literally crying laughing at that! So true!

bhiggins: You're so on target!  And I have only seen 1 or 2 comments here from people who like this over-the-top pig!  Everyone else seems to hate it for the inconvenience or are bewildered by it's massive structures and COST!  Hell, yes, that money should've been used for something more crucial, like I-75!

 

Yeah, the Bypass needed some work.  Everyone agrees on that.  But NOBODY saw this coming! :wtf:

 

Except Sherman Cahal.  He loves it, because it's like some intersection in Dayton(?).  :clap:

John Boehner's district. There's your answer.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120108/NEWS/301060102/Diversion-Road-reroute-bypass?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Sounds like a bypass...for the bypass!  :-D

Not really. It's more of a jughandle that's commonly used in New Jersey.

 

http://www.fairfield-city.org/bypass4/index.cfm

And it has more lanes than the roads it connects.  These sorts of maneuvers (especially when the main intersection isn't grade-separated) seem to just make the whole effort of going from A to B take that much longer due to all the extra signals.  Yes, each particular signal may be "optimized" for the situation, but you still have to navigate three of them instead of just one.  This is also a lot of new infrastructure to maintain:  The new connector road, two extra sets of traffic signals, lights, detectors, etc.  And what is the financial return on this project?  Oh wait, there is none, sorry. 

Looks like a Boehndoggle.

Honestly it seems like overkill to me.

Happy Birthday Jesus...hope you like crap.

A close up of the lane configuration with the very much excessive right turn storage lanes: http://www.fairfield-city.org/publicworks/superstreets/Bypass%204%20at%20Route%204%20Display-After.pdf

A close up of the lane configuration with the very much excessive right turn storage lanes: http://www.fairfield-city.org/publicworks/superstreets/Bypass%204%20at%20Route%204%20Display-After.pdf

 

...

 

holy jesus

Is it mentioned anywhere what the budget is for this project?

You could almost fit a baseball field in that triangle!

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/trac/TRAC%20List/Recommended-DRAFT-TRAC-List-1-17-11.pdf

Well, with the setback at ODOT, a public-private partnership could be in the works for the four-lane bypass - i.e. a toll road.

Well, whatever they want to do. Rosemount Rd. makes people better drivers. Other states have stuff 10X as intense as that hill. Portsmouth will die even more without the traffic. All that will be built on the new road is one of those dry carryouts/gas stations that looks like a pole barn.

I checked the news and other links and it appears that ODOT may be moving forward on this project this year.  The TRAC spreadsheet seems to indicate otherwise.  I also saw that some lawyers had contacted affected property owners for seminars, etc.  Does anyone know what is going on?

U.S. 24 bypass a mixed blessing

Area residents thankful for peace; businesses see drop-off in clientele

BY DAVID PATCH

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

Ron Dulay was sweeping up debris from a remodeling project on his home along South River Road in Waterville Township when a jogger happened by Sunday afternoon.

 

"There's something we never used to see," he remarked.

 

But Mr. Dulay might not have been in position to notice the jogger running along what used to be U.S. 24 if a new U.S. 24 hadn't opened just over a month before.

 

Read more at:http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/10/01/U-S-24-bypass-a-mixed-blessing-2.html

I didn't know where else to put this but a little bit of Michigan has come south:

 

Montgomery County installing first ‘left-turn’ traffic signal

 

 

Montgomery County residents will see a new type of traffic light starting Thursday.

 

The county engineer announced it is installing a new left-turn traffic signal display for the southbound movement at the intersection of North Dixie Drive and Wagner Ford Road. The display — the first one operational in the county — includes a flashing yellow arrow that indicates when left turns must yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians.

 

•Green arrow – left turns protected;

•Yellow arrow – prepare to stop;

•Flashing yellow arrow – left turns allowed. Left turns must yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians; and

•Red arrow – stop

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/blog/2012/10/montgomery-county-installing-first.html

It's quickly becoming standard. Kentucky has been replacing their more traditional "dog house" protected left signals with the four signal variant, which was shown to be easier to understand than the "dog house" which has been in use for decades.

Meanwhile in Utah...

 

How frightful.

Not really.  Out west, trust me, most of them drive 80 - 90mph on those roads anyway.

Yeah, because the drivers in Utah are more skilled than the drivers in Ohio.

^I doubt they are more skilled, I think it just requires less skill to drive in Utah.

^Basically.  All the open-air roads versus tree-lined, curvy roads like we have here in Ohio is a big visual difference for people tending to speed.  Think Kansas versus Kentucky in regards to speed.  If anyone has lived out west, you know how easy it is to just fly through those deserts, plains, and yes, even the mountains.

Over the past week, where I've logged over 1,000 miles, I noted:

 

25 people texting on their mobile phones,

5 people reading text,

1 person driving with one hand, holding a bible out of the window with his other hand, and yelling,

5 applying makeup,

1 shaving, and

3 driving with headphones.

 

I wish people would drive and not try to multi-task.

 

That's why we have trains and an extensive bus network. Oh wait, no we don't.

 

 

Someone earlier mentioned variable speed limit signs, similar to the variable message boards. They are a good idea in theory, but are difficult to implement and maintain. Communication wires break down over the years and require frequent maintenance and replacement (they last on average 5 years).

 

The New Jersey Turnpike was one of the first modern highways to implement this, in conjunction with their travel advisory boards (see below). It works fine, but requires operators to be ready to change the signage from a remote terminal. The West Virginia Turnpike used variable speed limit signs for about 10 years, from 1985 to 1995, before removing them -- citing the cost of maintaining the signs and the continued break downs.

 

 

I've been an advocate of strict drivers licensing programs, similar to Germany. You pay for the privilege to drive, and would be required to complete much more strict programming to be eligible for a license that would need to be renewed every two years.

 

And where/how does Germany spend that funding? Good roads. Good rail/transit. Hmmm....

No, of course they are not more skilled, I was being sarcastic. The reason they drive fast is that they have long distances to travel and they are impatient. They can get away with it because the super highways have way less traffic than does ours.

 

I am sure that the high speed drivers cannot properly assess the risk they are taking. A car traveling 75 mph has twice the kinetic energy than a car traveling 55 mph. A motorist braking from high speed will necessarily overheat the brakes when they are trying to decelerate. The brakes heat up, the brake fluid heats up, and the fluid starts to turn to gas.  While the motorist stomps the pedal, the gas compresses, and the pedal goes to the floor. Cars crash and people die.

^I knew you were being sarcastic, but for some reason decided to respond to it as if you weren't. I don't think I was trying to be sarcastic by playing along though. Hmm... Oh well. My point still stands.