^I believe the spelling is "racest," but I could be wrong.

Damnit!  FOILED AGAIN!!!

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but here is a link to ODOT with renderings and designs under study..

 

Renderings and Designs

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/7071study/Information%20link.asp

 

Tha Main Page

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/7071study/

Damnit!  FOILED AGAIN!!!

 

Hey Ray Nagin.  You coming back to New Orleans, or are you just going to play mayor by proxy? :-D

Damnit!  FOILED AGAIN!!!

 

Hey Ray Nagin.  You coming back to New Orleans, or are you just going to play mayor by proxy? :-D

 

Columbus should be a CHOCOLATE CITY!!!

Damnit!  FOILED AGAIN!!!

 

arrrr, you got it wrong, it is:  Curses! FOILED AGAIN!

 

 

listen to the song snoopy vs the red baron, then take the red baron part and jump to eddie rickenbacker, giving you the local reference

No.

No.

 

Yes.

From ThisWeek Clintonville, 11/30/06:

 

 

Public can comment on I-70/71 split Dec. 5

Thursday, November 30, 2006

 

The public will have a chance next week to weigh in on a thorny issue city and state officials have been wrestling with for the past four years: What to do with the congested "downtown split" of Interstates 70 and 71.

 

A public meeting to answer questions and take suggestions on the overtaxed stretch of highway will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m.

 

The gathering, which will feature Ohio Department of Transportation officials and urban designers, will be held in the auditorium of the Columbus Health Department, 240 Parsons Ave. Parking is available behind the building, which is at the intersection of Parsons Avenue and East Main Street.

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/index.php?sec=clintonville&story=sites/thisweeknews/113006/Clintonville/News/113006-News-268784.html

 

State to unveil plan to put caps over highways

Project could reunite Downtown with neighborhoods, but funding is a hurdle

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Debbie Gebolys

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

If money were no object, a rebuilt I-70/71 through Downtown could bore like a tunnel beneath a series of decorative bridges, landscaped promenades and commercial buildings.

 

Above the highway, Downtown could reconnect to German Village and the Near East Side in a way that hasn’t been possible since the highways slashed through the city more than 40 years ago.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/05/20061205-D4-00.html

^ The Parsons cap needs to be dropped. The purpose of a cap is to connect neighborhoods.  If they want that one to serve a purpose, they'll need to extend over the other three interchanges.

It's huge oversights like this that just make me puzzled. Like when the Cap over 670 was built without any place for businesses to take trash out other than the front door (can't take it out back, obviously) and then the streetcar group didn't even include a route that didn't over I-71-70. Why have everything priced in 2008 dollars if a route is not going to start to get built until 5-8 years later? Because that's how long we'd have to wait for the bridge to get fixed before a streetcar could go south of split since construction is supposed to start in 2010. Why not start on a route from somewhere downtown to OSU and maybe even include that west loop in the Arena District? The OSU route, starting from German Village to OSU, was one of the highest rated routes, but was dropped as the 1st one due to funding. With the German Village loop out of the picture, just until the bridge is ready, it would be just as feasible to do, the ridership would be there, and OSU would provide some funding. By then, we'll be ready for that route extension.

 

Now, for ODOT to make such an oversight with the cap to nowhere, that is just ridiculous. Let's say they did in fact plan to cap the other three highways to the north. It would still be horrible because there is nothing there at that intersection except for a bunch of open space surrounding the large Ohio Asylum for the Blind building which is set back off the street, so it wouldn't connect very well anyway, would be very expensive, you'd still have to walk under an overpass to get to the other caps and who's going to invest all of that money into developments bordering a ghetto? I'm assuming you're going to point out how terrible this cap is at the meeting.

 

edit: Ha! The meeting is taking place at that very building on Parsons. What are the odds?  :lol:

Over Parsons is going to be a walkway, not a cap. They say a number of people use the walkway but it's not in good shape and is close to the road. I like the caps and all, but shouldn't we be putting $850 million towards phasing out a stretch of highway and replacing it with light rail? That would take care of the costly maintenence costs of that stretch of highway while  providing good mass transit in the near future. Or we could just keep doing what we've been doing.

Some similar news from Georgia....

 

 

5th St. Bridge: Green path over Connector

Unusual project ties Tech campus to new buildings

 

By ARIEL HART

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 12/05/06

 

Atlanta's newest park is planted in quite a place: 17 feet above Downtown Connector motorists.

 

There is nothing else like it in the state, say Georgia Department of Transportation officials. The Fifth Street Bridge, officially finished today, has more than tripled in size as it spans I-75/I-85 downtown, giving the feel of a garden rather than a bridge, and adding no additional car lanes.

 

Find this article at:

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2006/12/04/1205metbridge.html 

 

It's huge oversights like this that just make me puzzled. Like when the Cap over 670 was built without any place for businesses to take trash out other than the front door (can't take it out back, obviously) and then the streetcar group didn't even include a route that didn't over I-71-70. Why have everything priced in 2008 dollars if a route is not going to start to get built until 5-8 years later? Because that's how long we'd have to wait for the bridge to get fixed before a streetcar could go south of split since construction is supposed to start in 2010. Why not start on a route from somewhere downtown to OSU and maybe even include that west loop in the Arena District? The OSU route, starting from German Village to OSU, was one of the highest rated routes, but was dropped as the 1st one due to funding. With the German Village loop out of the picture, just until the bridge is ready, it would be just as feasible to do, the ridership would be there, and OSU would provide some funding. By then, we'll be ready for that route extension.

 

1) The streetcar routes all went to German Village because of the density that the neighborhood already has.  To leave out our densest, most streetcar-ready neighborhood would be an enormous folly.

 

2) Leaving out the GV southern loop wouldn't save you much money in the grand scheme of things.  As a guess, I'd say somewhere in the $20 million range out of a total of $80-100 (ish).  If the caps cost aorund $150 million on top of that, it really isn't buying you much.

 

3) The extension to OSU was dropped because it was ranked #2.  It could very easily be added to the #1 ranked line once it's up and running.  I know you're frustrated because they went with the #1 ranked line over the #2 ranked line, but lets focus on getting the first cars running before we get greedy.

Wait, is German Village really the densest neighborhood for streetcars over OSU? I have a hard time fathoming that, especially with the lack of several blocks of dorm towers there. Just walking around OSU vs German Village I see many more people on the street around OSU. Of course, the loop is what would increase the ridership in German Village whereas there was only a possible loop planned to Neil which would result in even higher ridership in the campus area. As far as the cost goes, I'm just wanting it to cost the same by just adding the same amount of tracks in the place of those south of the split. We can dispute why the OSU ranked slightly lower, but I really just want either streetcar line up and running, but with one that goes south of the split well, we kinda have to wait for that to get done first and construction is going to start until sometime in 2010. Shouldn't we avoid having to wait years for the split to get fixed and just get a streetcar running on a good, solid route?

Hopefully it's not to late to look into replacing this freeway going through downtown with a boulevard as shown in this article:

 

http://www.cnu.org/news/index.cfm?formAction=cnu_update_archive&cnu_update_id=90&CFID=15301850&CFTOKEN=39925196

 

There was also a relevant thread titled: What highway or interchange would you remove and for what?

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8230.0

"Having a pedestrian bridge in an urban environment is almost an oxymoron, it's usually all about cars," said Susan Mendheim, president of the Midtown Alliance, a group of community and business leaders who advocate for planning in Midtown. "It was an incredibly bold project."

 

My eyes nearly exploded reading this.  If this woman thinks urban environments are usually all about cars, she hasn't been in a true urban environment.  How far our cities have fallen to the glories of the automobile!

"Having a pedestrian bridge in an urban environment is almost an oxymoron, it's usually all about cars," said Susan Mendheim, president of the Midtown Alliance, a group of community and business leaders who advocate for planning in Midtown. "It was an incredibly bold project."

 

My eyes nearly exploded reading this.  If this woman thinks urban environments are usually all about cars, she hasn't been in a true urban environment.  How far our cities have fallen to the glories of the automobile!

 

To be fair, Ms. Mendheim is a representative of Midtown, Mars.

I wrote an email to Michelle May who is listed as the contact for the I-70/I-71 study. The more I look at this project the more I find I don't like how they are handling it. Here it is and let me know if I left something important out. Maybe I should've posted it 1st before sending it...

 

Dear Ms. May,

 

Might I suggest looking into transforming the section of 1-70-71 that goes through downtown into a street level boulevard? Doing so would be much more cost effective than to sink an endless supply of millions of dollars into the black hole that is our overextensive highway system. It would also mean no bridges would be needed on this stretch and therefore no need to spend millions more on making them capable of holding caps and sustain the weight of streetcars or light rail. Also, the entire stretch would be completely covered, not a patchwork of caps, making the prohibitively expensive tunnel option unnecessary. The options for urban infill that could occur in the area would greatly increase since weight limits would not be an issue. The amount of money saved could be used for other transportation projects, like the streetcar system. So not only would this save a lot of money, it would also do an excellent job of re-integrating neighborhoods to downtown. Thanks for your time.

 

Article from the Congress of the New Urbanism on boulevards replacing freeways in downtowns.

http://www.cnu.org/news/index.cfm?formAction=cnu_update_archive&cnu_update_id=90&CFID=15301850&CFTOKEN=39925196

 

Jill Kruse's study on the positive impacts of less highways in numerous cities.

http://ntl.bts.gov/card_view.cfm?docid=1165

Michelle May has been the spokeswoman for District 6 (if not all of ODOT) for 5 years.

As for the Boulvard idea, that was considered (it was an early frontrunner) and discarded back in 2004.

 

But wasn't that boulevard to be built over the split? I'm talking about filling in where the split is right now with a street-level boulevard, with solid ground underneath making caps unneccesary.

But wasn't that boulevard to be built over the split? I'm talking about filling in where the split is right now with a street-level boulevard, with solid ground underneath making caps unneccesary.

 

You can always going back to the first page of this thread to see what we thought things would be back in 2004.

 

Otherwise I thought the boulevard option was for I-70, from Miller-Kelton to 3rd/4th St.  No mention of doing anything of the like for I-71, from I-670/Spring St to I-70.

Columbusite -  I don't get it. Are you recommending doing away with the highway and bringing it to street level?

^^Yes, I was right about the boulevard being built over the highway and you are correct, it was only for I-70.

 

^Yep, if that's possible with a boulevard. I just found some important info. The split gets 175,000 vehicles per day http://www.morpc.org/web/forums/corf/documents/21306Minutes_000.pdf

vs Milwaukee's Park East highway which carried 40,000 per day http://info.cnt.org/~kara/BlogUpdate/SeattlePI.HighwayTear.052306.pdf which might affect the feasibility of such a project. So if anyone knows how much daily traffic goes through downtown on I-670 & SR 315 along with their capacity please share that info (http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/resources/publications/FullClosure/CrossCutting/its.htm lists the daily traffic at 62,000 on I-670 and http://www.ua-ohio.net/masterplan/document/3transportation.pdf lists 105,000 per day on SR 315 but those look like they are for the entire stretches, not just the downtown segments). Also of interest, I just came across is this "Summer 2003: Preliminary Concepts & Summary of Analyses" http://www.dot.state.oh.us/7071study/draftprelconcepts8-03.asp which states the split carries 175,000 vehicles, but when I-670 re-opens it will take an estimated 30% of that number off of the split. However, that 175,000 figure was used again in 2006, so did they not bother updating it or did the number of daily vehicles stay exactly the same? If it wasn't updated and the re-opening of I-670 did in fact take 30% (52,500 vehicles) of the current traffic off of the spilt that would make the current figure quite a bit lower than what is currently stated. Of course, it could have done better or worse than expected, but I can't find any info pertaining to that. It goes without saying that light-rail would go even further in lowering traffic, but that is still a dream. There is this Average Daily Traffic 1994-2003 for downtown streets/highways, but I'm probably not reading it correctly http://downtowncolumbus.com/publications/DTTrafficCounts1994-2003.pdf .

Sounds like your plan would put a stanglehold on central ohio's economy.  How can we be a world leader in shipping and logistics by choking off access to one of the most frequently traveled cross country highways in the country?  There's no way that 670 could handle that traffic load.  This was one of the reasons that the city's "grand boulevard" idea was shot down.  ODOT couldn't afford to close off the highway while it was built.  670 couldn't handle it.

 

I understand why you're thinking the way that you are, but I think you need to step back and look at the big picture.

 

EDIT: Here's a link to some traffic volumes (1995-2004).

http://downtowncolumbus.com/publications/DTTrafficCounts1995-2004.pdf

70/71 - 141,000

670 - 100,000 in it's core, but on the connectors, only 63k and 56k.

Sounds like your plan would put a stanglehold on central ohio's economy.

 

Superman will never let you get away with this.

 

Sorry.

 

Continue.

Sounds like your plan would put a stanglehold on central ohio's economy.  How can we be a world leader in shipping and logistics by choking off access to one of the most frequently traveled cross country highways in the country?  There's no way that 670 could handle that traffic load.  This was one of the reasons that the city's "grand boulevard" idea was shot down.  ODOT couldn't afford to close off the highway while it was built.  670 couldn't handle it.

 

I understand why you're thinking the way that you are, but I think you need to step back and look at the big picture.

 

EDIT: Here's a link to some traffic volumes (1995-2004).

http://downtowncolumbus.com/publications/DTTrafficCounts1995-2004.pdf

70/71 - 141,000

670 - 100,000 in it's core, but on the connectors, only 63k and 56k.

 

:/. I'll take one last stab at it, how about directing interstate travelers to I-270? Again, ideally we'd have funding for a substantial light-rail system and developments near highways (like northern I-270) weren't sprawl, but...yeah. I do wonder how long will it take for traffic on the split to reach capacity, I guess when it does we'll just throw another $800+ million at it and hope it goes away...and we'll still be without light-rail. Surely not setting up a good rail system would put a stranglehold on our economy too. I'm hoping next month when the power in our government switches that some action will be taken.

From the 1/20/07 Dispatch:

 

 

STREETCARS IN MIX, TOO

Support for caps over I-70/71 puts stress on planners

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Regional planners might change their minds and recommend money to build caps over the I-70/71 freeway Downtown, following public comments that supported the project.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/01/20/20070120-C3-01.html

 

From the 1/29/07 Dispatch:

 

 

GRAPHIC: Costly construction

 

I-70/71 REBUILDING PLAN

At least $58 million needed for 12 caps on Downtown split

Monday, January 29, 2007

Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Pat Lewis lives in Victorian Village, not far from the restaurants and shops that sit on the N. High Street cap over I-670.

 

She can?t help wondering about the impact a freeway cap over I-71 would have on the Near East Side, where she works.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/01/29/20070129-C1-04.html

 

From ThisWeek German Village, 2/15/07:

 

 

I-70/71 reconstruction

Front Street ideas discussed at meeting

Thursday, February 15, 2007

By SUE HAGAN

ThisWeek Staff Writer 

 

Although the Front Street bridge over I-70/71 won't get an elaborate cap during the makeover of the freeway split, improvements will make it more pedestrian friendly. And a decision will soon be made as to whether Livingston Avenue will become a one-way collector road.

 

Questions on those two topics dominated the Feb. 7 Brewery District Society meeting, during a presentation by representatives of the Ohio Department of Transportation and its design consultant.

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/021507/GermanVillage/News/021507-News-306193.html

 

From the 3/17/07 Dispatch:

 

 

* GRAPHIC: Comparing plans for new ramps

 

People in high-rise condos throw stones at ramp plan

New I-70/71 split might include ramp that soars beside Miranova, Waterford Tower

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Nancy Brown enjoys the terrace garden outside her fifthfloor condominium at Miranova.

 

It?s a benefit she and others don?t want spoiled by traffic whizzing past on a new entrance ramp to I-70, a ramp that could be at nearly the same level as her garden atop a parking garage.

 

Brown is among residents of the Miranova and Waterford Tower condominiums Downtown who are concerned that one of the plans for the rebuilt I-70/71 split includes a new ramp near their buildings that would funnel traffic to the freeway from Mound Street, which would become westbound-only.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/03/17/20070317-B4-00.html

 

I-70/71 PLANS

Mound, Fulton future portals?

Favored plan boosts southern end of Downtown, officials say

Wednesday,  June 6, 2007 3:40 AM

By Debbie Gebolys and Tim Doulin

 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/06/7071FIX.ART_ART_06-06-07_A1_OG6UC2D.html

 

State transportation officials will recommend today that Mound and Fulton streets become major gateways into and out of Downtown as part of a plan to unravel the hazardous I-70/71 split.

 

When the freeway is reconfigured beginning in 2011, Mound would become one-way westbound for traffic from I-71 on the east side headed to destinations Downtown. Fulton Street would be its eastbound counterpart, taking traffic from Rt. 315 through Downtown.

Get ready for a new commute

I-70/71 plan pulls traffic off freeways, onto city streets

Thursday,  June 7, 2007 3:48 AM

By Debbie Gebolys and Tim Doulin

 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Making an exit

Some familiar entrance/exit ramps will no longer exist once the I-70/71 corridor Downtown is rebuilt. Those remaining will be reconfigured and join new ramps and connector streets.

 

No more ramps:

Civic Center Drive, Front Street-High Street, 3rd Street-4th Street-Livingston Avenue, Fulton Street, Rich Street, Broad Street, Long Street

 

http://dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/07/7071NEXT.ART_ART_06-07-07_A1_F36UNFO.html

Six I-70/71 caps still on city's wish list

Cost of overpasses: at least $53 million

Thursday,  July 19, 2007 3:51 AM

By Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The city has identified six preferred locations to build caps over the I-70/71 freeway Downtown, but finding the money to build them remains an issue.

 

Spring, Long and Broad streets are favored sites for caps on the eastern leg of the project, and 3rd, High and Front streets on the southern leg.

 

http://dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/07/19/CAPPERS.ART_ART_07-19-07_B1_I57AQO4.html

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/07/23/story2.html 

 

The road less traveled - but not for long

State's plan for the I-70/71 split would deliver huge changes for Mound St.

Business First of Columbus - July 20, 2007by Adrian BurnsBusiness First

 

When developer George Kontogiannis considers the coming reconstruction of the Interstate 70/71 split, he thinks traffic fumes, noise and inconvenience. In short, he's not happy about it.

 

But Franklin University, which shares a block with Kontogiannis' Americana apartment and office complex, couldn't be further away in its opinion. Administrators there are pleased about the project, citing the increased accessibility, visibility and economic development that's likely to result from the state's plan to redirect traffic between downtown and the highway.

The I-70/71 corridor: Where wrecks are waiting to happen

The most dangerous stretch of highway in Ohio should be fixed -- maybe by 2016

Monday,  October 29, 2007 3:47 AM

By Suzanne Hoholik

 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

It was a clear, sunny morning when Jessica Leslie drove into the end of rush-hour traffic in the I-70/71 corridor Downtown.

 

She had left Cleveland early that August morning last year, headed for an internship in Georgia. Traffic was still heavy as she drove west through Downtown toward I-71 south.

 

"I saw how backed up it was, and I was glancing at my mirror," said Leslie, 20, a Cleveland resident and engineering student at Cleveland State University.

 

http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/10/29/TheSplit.ART_ART_10-29-07_A1_2I8A25R.html?sid=101

Here are two graphics that went with the I-70/71 Dispatch story posted by Noozer.  Sort of a before and after plan view of the area, or an existing and proposed overview.

 

 

Does anyone know if ODOT has considered adding HOV, HOT lanes or truck and bus only thru lanes? I think this would help the freeway tremendously, since about 13% of the accidents involve trucks. Just my opinion.

ODOT is allowing COTA buses to operate on the "breakdown" lanes during peak rush hours, but I don't know if HOV or HOT lanes have been considered.  Given that every project has to go through some kind of alternatives analysis, I can't imagine that it wasn't examined.  Whether it has emerged in the actual plans, that I couldn't tell you.

 

Ultimately, however, it won't be enough to simply create dedicated lanes for trucks.  There must be a concurrent effort to take more freight traffic off of the highways and on to rail if we are to reduce the accident toll as well as the overall cost of wear and tear from bigger and heavier trucks.

These shared entrance/exit lanes drive me nuts. They're all over Columbus like a rash.

Kind of like the old "slot car" racing sets I had as a kid.  There would always be a piece of track called the "chicane" where two cars would ultimately try to share the same space at the same time and would always result in some insane crash.  Lots of fun on a slot car track... terrifying in real life.

Do you think that HOV or HOT lanes would be useful for the downtown freeway?

Kind of like the old "slot car" racing sets I had as a kid.  There would always be a piece of track called the "chicane" where two cars would ultimately try to share the same space at the same time and would always result in some insane crash.  Lots of fun on a slot car track... terrifying in real life.

 

Perched atop the Brewery District, I feel like one of the kids in the commercial who shout, "WHOA!  AWESOME!" every time they see one of the slow motion slot car accidents.

 

OK...I can't actually see the accidents, but the circling helicopters and flashing ambulence lights are dead givaways that another one bit the dust.

 

I also love how ODOT always gives the excuse that the highway is dangerous b/c it's operating above it's capacity.  While I'm sure there are times when it's operating well above what it was designed for, the truth is, even on nights when there are few cars on the road, it's a nightmare.  Try coming south on 315, merging east, then crossing 5 lanes in less than a mile to exit at Front St.  I don't care how bad the traffic is...you better be alert!  :-o

Kind of like the old "slot car" racing sets I had as a kid.  There would always be a piece of track called the "chicane" where two cars would ultimately try to share the same space at the same time and would always result in some insane crash.  Lots of fun on a slot car track... terrifying in real life.

 

A very thrifty use of concrete, but that's about all the good I can say about them.

 

Coming soon, from ODOT:

 

I swear you can find anything on teh internets.

 

[youtube=425,350]1lLkp5gn8Yg

 

[youtube=425,350]hkFu6IKt4to&rel=1

^US-1 Electric Trucking≠Excitement.

Back to the issue of HOV lanes: an interesting article about HOV lanes connected with one of the more infamously expensive highway projects.  And check out the cost of the lanes.  And yet they had the chance to connect North and South Stations in Boston, thus connecting the Northeast Corridor all the way to Portland, Maine without changing trains..... but that was somehow forgotten.  Sheesh.

 

The roads less traveled

Built to ease traffic, HOV lanes are largely unused

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff  |  October 28, 2007

 

They are like quiet country roads, rising and banking, then dipping out of view, the serenity broken by nothing more than the occasional vehicle cruising through the soft turns. Traffic is so sparse that motorists - the few that there are - usually can't see the car ahead.

 

Yet these are anything but rural byways. Rather, they are the little-known and seldom used high-occupancy vehicle lanes of the Big Dig tunnel system, curving in and out of the city not far from the skyscrapers of South Station. When they were opened two years ago, with their very own tunnel under the Fort Point Channel, state officials predicted they would change the way Boston area drivers commute to work.

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/28/the_roads_less_traveled?mode=PF

I swear you can find anything on teh internets.

 

[youtube=425,350]1lLkp5gn8Yg

 

[youtube=425,350]hkFu6IKt4to&rel=1

 

Was Roscoe's car actually slower than the General? A definite beatdown would have to happen if another kid tried to make me be Roscoe.

 

The trucking one was a dumb idea. I remember seeing that one at Children's Palace, Service Merchandise and Gold Circle. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Kind of like the old "slot car" racing sets I had as a kid.  There would always be a piece of track called the "chicane" where two cars would ultimately try to share the same space at the same time and would always result in some insane crash.  Lots of fun on a slot car track... terrifying in real life.

A very thrifty use of concrete, but that's about all the good I can say about them.

Coming soon, from ODOT:

 

 

Ha!  Love the slot car reference!  Good childhood memories - that and Evel Knievel toys. 

 

The above image looks like a freeway system designed by Rem Koolhaas or Zaha Hadid!