I wonder if the potential for increased head-on collisions is somewhat, if not entirely offset by the fact that the road is noticeably dangerous. I think people are inclined to pay more attention when the danger is so perceivable. I'm always a little more alert on Columbia Parkway than I typically am elsewhere. Knowing opposing traffic at 50MPH is 2 or 3 feet away has that effect.

Does anyone know if there was an unexpected issue with this bridge, or if this just a routine inspection?

 

 

^ The bridge is closed due to "corrosion" per KTC.

I'd guess that they're using the opportunity to do maintenance to the whole bridge at once rather than weekend closures or shrinking the the thing down to a single lane with temporary traffic lights on either end. 

Just saw I75 trending on Twitter....

 

 

^The video is hilarious.  

On 4/14/2020 at 5:05 PM, taestell said:

Do anyone know if there was an unexpected issue with this bridge, or if this just a routine inspection?

 

 

 

It was open on Saturday, one lane each way, with the outer westbound lane blocked off.  While that lane is passable for bikes/pedestrians, no effort was made to make it so, with "road closed" barriers at regular intervals blocking nearly the entire width.  

It would make a lot of sense for the bridge to be rebuilt at some point with a more logical configuration and more space for bikes/peds. Right now the sidewalk is quite small, especially if cyclists are using it.

This sidewalk is something to behold.  It feels like there's only 24" between the railings, so two people going in opposite directions need to shimmy around each other.  https://goo.gl/maps/74q3wGQwYsG99wux8  

14 hours ago, taestell said:

It would make a lot of sense for the bridge to be rebuilt at some point with a more logical configuration and more space for bikes/peds. Right now the sidewalk is quite small, especially if cyclists are using it.

 

It's unclear to me what is being accomplished with three vehicular lanes.  If they reduce it to two lanes then there will be plenty of space for a bike/walking lane.  Plus they can keep the current very-narrow sidewalk open. 

 

BTW the "new" 12th St. bridge, which now about 20 years old, has a very nice sidewalk but the climb on a bike is pretty substantial. 

I don't really know where this would most appropriately go but I didn't see it anywhere else. OKI wants feedback on their draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan:

 

https://2050.oki.org/

 

 

TIL Covington is working on an overhaul of the "Clay Wade Bailey Corridor". I don't see why the current 3 lane road configuration (with its center reversible lane) is necessary, and it would be cool to see it converted to a 2-lane configuration with a two-way cycle track replacing one of the auto lanes!

23 minutes ago, taestell said:

TIL Covington is working on an overhaul of the "Clay Wade Bailey Corridor". I don't see why the current 3 lane road configuration (with its center reversible lane) is necessary, and it would be cool to see it converted to a 2-lane configuration with a two-way cycle track replacing one of the auto lanes!

I get what you are saying and would tend to agree with you on it except the for the fact that the Roebling seems to go down frequently enough and all that traffic needs to move to Clay Wade Bailey at that point If we know that Roebling can consistently handle the traffic I would feel more comfortable about it.  But to your point, it is not the most heavily travelled bridge and does not line up well with downtown as it currently sits. 

34 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

I get what you are saying and would tend to agree with you on it except the for the fact that the Roebling seems to go down frequently enough and all that traffic needs to move to Clay Wade Bailey at that point If we know that Roebling can consistently handle the traffic I would feel more comfortable about it.  But to your point, it is not the most heavily travelled bridge and does not line up well with downtown as it currently sits. 

 

I would rather have permanent, safe bicycle infrastructure every day of the year and risk some traffic delays periodically than to cater to cars in a worst case scenario.

On 2/23/2022 at 5:20 PM, Brutus_buckeye said:

I get what you are saying and would tend to agree with you on it except the for the fact that the Roebling seems to go down frequently enough and all that traffic needs to move to Clay Wade Bailey at that point If we know that Roebling can consistently handle the traffic I would feel more comfortable about it.  But to your point, it is not the most heavily travelled bridge and does not line up well with downtown as it currently sits. 

The typical traffic volumes on Clay Wade is around 15k. That's not a hard diet at all. Reducing lanes on Clay Wade and then permanently closing Roebling to vehicles (9,000 AADT) would be hard, but also still feasible, especially since that would create mode switch and traffic evaporation over time.

Covington, Newport residents blast Kentucky's $68M Licking River Bridge renderings

 

Residents of Covington and Newport on Aug. 10 balked at state transportation officials' proposal that the new Fourth Street Licking River Bridge expand to four lanes. 

 

Residents framed the new designs from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) as incongruous with the agency’s own pedestrian safety goals and out of touch with data that shows the bridge isn’t used nearly as much as is claimed. 

 

The $68 million replacement bridge is fully funded and will break ground in fall 2023. The existing bridge is 87 years old and is experiencing significant deterioration. A weight limit has been in place since 2020, preventing truck and bus transit traffic from crossing. Around 14,000 vehicles use it every day and it’s heavily trafficked by cyclists and pedestrians. 

 

The Devou Good Foundation began rallying the community behind its own alternate designs from architecture firm Hub+Weber in 2022. It presented three options from which more than 1,400 survey respondents selected one: a three-lane “spoke” design with a shared-use pathway for pedestrians and cyclists on the south side, pedestrian trail connections at either end and allowance for a hypothetical streetcar expansion. 

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/08/11/kentucky-licking-river-4th-street-bridge-design.html

 

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet chooses four-lane design for Fourth Street Licking River Bridge

 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is moving forward with a design for the Fourth Street/KY-8 Licking River Bridge that adds a fourth lane over community objections.

 

KYTC announced at the end of December it had selected an approved design to replace the current three-lane bridge, which at 87 years old is experiencing significant deterioration.

 

“This project represents our commitment to improving safety and connectivity for all Kentuckians now and well into the future in a region full of growth opportunities,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a news release.

 

The design-build team – PCL Construction, Stance Consulting and Rosales + Partners – is finalizing the configuration for the bridge approaches and refining the overall design, including traffic calming measures, lane widths, intersection features, signal timing and pavement markings.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/01/02/kytc-selects-4th-street-bridge-design-licking.html

 

Building a bridge here that doesn't allow the structural capacity for future streetcar/transit would be incredibly short sighted. There's so much money being invested along the NKY riverfront from Newport on the levee, through Ovation to the IRS site's 23 acres and the BSB and this bridge link is vital to it all connecting. Both Newport and Covington are so focused on being connected to Cincinnati that we never focus on connecting better to each other. 

On 1/3/2024 at 3:37 PM, ucgrady said:

Building a bridge here that doesn't allow the structural capacity for future streetcar/transit would be incredibly short sighted. There's so much money being invested along the NKY riverfront from Newport on the levee, through Ovation to the IRS site's 23 acres and the BSB and this bridge link is vital to it all connecting. Both Newport and Covington are so focused on being connected to Cincinnati that we never focus on connecting better to each other. 

Huge miss to not include option for streetcar.

 

They have it in the 2050 plan for Newport. $80 million extention.

 

https://2050.oki.org/recommended-projects/

Norwood Lateral closures begin amid $21.4 million project

By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier

Mar 11, 2024

 

The Norwood Lateral is closed to all traffic in the eastbound lanes as the Ohio Department of Transportation begins a major, $21.4 million bridge project on structures that pass over the east-west highway that runs from Bond Hill to Oakley through Norwood.

 

That closure, which started late Sunday, March 10, will last 80 days, according to ODOT, but it is part of a larger project that will shutter the highway into the summer. Closure of the westbound lanes will begin in early June and also last 80 days.

 

Motorists on southbound I-75 will be detoured to Fort Washington Way and I-71 north. Northbound I-75 drivers will be detoured to Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway and I-71.

 

MORE

Norwood Lateral reopening earlier than expected

 

The eastbound lanes of Norwood Lateral will reopen by tomorrow morning – Wednesday, May 29 – a few days earlier than expected as contractors hired by the Ohio Department of Transportation finish the first half of $21.4 million project.

 

Crews will begin removing the barricades blocking people from driving onto Ohio State Route 562 at 9 p.m. tonight. The work had been expected to last for 80 days, meaning part one finished three days early.

 

But respite will only last until Sunday, June 9, when the westbound lanes close for that half of the project. That closure also is projected to last 80 days. The entire project will not be complete until June 2025, and future periodic single-lane closures are expected.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/05/28/norwood-lateral-reopening-earlier-than-expected.html

 

The I-275 smart lane opened this morning. I'm hearing it has helped quite a bit.  This is the first section to open. Total construction will not be finished until 2028/2029. They need to widen the bridge over the Little Miami River.

How is a smart lane not just more induced demand?

I'm also a bit confused/skeptical about the theory behind smart lanes. 

 

I found this page on ODOT's site explaining the project: https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/projects/projects/94256

 

And this from FHWA: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop15023/ch4.htm#s41

 

It seems like the idea is for the shoulders to remain open as much as possible, and only allow traffic during peak time. I'm still worried this will lead to more induced demand, as @Dev pointed out. I suppose this is better than widening highways endlessly. 

1 hour ago, jwulsin said:

I'm still worried this will lead to more induced demand, as @Dev pointed out. I suppose this is better than widening highways endlessly. 

That's the best I can be optimistic about it. ODOT will try it and then realize in 10 years that it didn't really do anything. Hopefully by then the political willpower exists to try things that actually reduce congestion long-term.

The I-670 smart lane was popular when it opened in 2019 and did work. But it shut down during COVID due to low volume and I can't tell if or when they brought it back without doing the drive at peak.

The I-670 smart lane has been in use since 2021 after/during COVID.

Norwood Lateral set to fully reopen following delay

 

Ohio Department of Transportation crews will start to reopen the westbound lanes on the Norwood Lateral the evening of Friday, Sept. 20, after largely completing a $21.4 million bridge project and partial resurfacing of the major east-west thoroughfare.

 

Crews are expected to start reopening the lateral at 7 p.m. Friday, removing barricades and other traffic control devices. The lateral will be fully restored by 5 a.m. Saturday, according to ODOT.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/09/20/norwood-lateral-westbound-reopens-sept-20-roadwork.html

A massive fire has damaged the Daniel Carter Beard (aka Big Mac) Bridge carrying I-471. The bridge will be closed indefinitely as crews determine the extent of the damage.

 

 

Wow.

Yeah, this is going to be bad. I-471 North will most likely be shut down for weeks to repair/replace those metal beams.

Why do they have stuff stored under any bridge?

6 minutes ago, unusualfire said:

Why do they have stuff stored under any bridge?

 

Pretty sure the only thing under the bridge are parked cars and a playground at Sawyer Point.

 

Also, your username is pretty sus...

7 minutes ago, ryanlammi said:

 

Pretty sure the only thing under the bridge are parked cars and a playground at Sawyer Point.

 

Also, your username is pretty sus...

The park used shredded tires as an underlayment.  I guess fire from the crash on top of the bridge spread to that playground under the approach to the bridge.

Edited November 1, 2024Nov 1 by unusualfire

Jet fuel can't melt steel but ground up tires can!

52 minutes ago, GCrites said:

Jet fuel can't melt steel but ground up tires can!

I don't know enough about tires or fire or steel to know if this is a joke or not... regardless, I'm very surprised by much the steel appears to have been melted. I'm assuming the rubber surface of that playset was only an inch or two... and seems hard to imagine that being enough fuel to cause such a huge fire... but I'm no expert on these matters.

I took my kids to that play structure a lot. It was a pretty substantial structure built entirely of plastic composite materials to look like a castle. 

 

From my understanding no cars were involved in the fire at all, below the bridge or on top. 

 

Could have been started by a tossed cigarette or maybe someone sleeping in the play structure trying to keep warm?

Pretty unfortunate for Cincinnati to have two interstate bridge closed due to fire damage in a 4 year span. The Brent Spence Bridge was closed from November 11 to December 22, 2020 after a fiery crash.

48 minutes ago, jwulsin said:

I don't know enough about tires or fire or steel to know if this is a joke or not... regardless, I'm very surprised by much the steel appears to have been melted. I'm assuming the rubber surface of that playset was only an inch or two... and seems hard to imagine that being enough fuel to cause such a huge fire... but I'm no expert on these matters.

It's a 9/11 conspiracy theory reference ("jet fuel can't melt steel beams").  

 

In addition to the massive plastic/composite playset, I think the whole playground area was covered in that rubber material.  Very spongy and resilient.  

 

It's a shame.  That was a great playground.  

6 minutes ago, jdm00 said:

It's a 9/11 conspiracy theory reference ("jet fuel can't melt steel beams").  

 

 

Since I have a metallurgy degree, this comment always made me cringe.

 

Burning jet fuel can't melt steel beams but it does significantly reduce their strength.  Under load, this can cause warping and deformation that compromises the structure.

There was a lot of plastic in that playground.

This crap made me 15 minutes late for work today.  I knew something was up when I saw people pulling U-turns on Columbia Parkway and a line of tractor trailers following Google Maps directions up into Mt. Adams. 

The complete closure of I-471 through Campbell County to I-275 seems like overkill especially for SB traffic from Newport, Fort Thomas looking to go south away from the River to access I-275 or southern parts of the County.   I have heard complaints all day about delays accessing Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Fort Thomas due to the congestion in the area because of the shut downs at US-27 Grant and Memorial Parkway.  These areas should not be heavily impacted by the closure of the Ohio Bridge approaches. 

Yeah, its seems they should've just made I-471 "Local Traffic Only" like any other bridge closing/disruption.  

4 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Yeah, its seems they should've just made I-471 "Local Traffic Only" like any other bridge closing/disruption.  

 

I think they were rightfully worried about excessive truck traffic coming through Newport.  Whenever the Brent Spence shuts down it's a matter of minutes before tractor trailers start crossing the Suspension Bridge. 

 

I rode my bike as close as I could to the site of the fire over the weekend.  You can still smell the burnt rubber and plastic. 

There was a ton of car traffic detouring through Newport on Friday causing a backup at the roundabout at the Taylor Southgate Bridge and Third Street. I think the closure of I-471 was necessary to prevent semi trucks from taking that same path instead of detouring around and using I-75 or I-275.

One of my coworkers called off sick on Wednesday because there was a wreck on the Brent Spence Bridge and he didn't know that the 471 bridge was closed.  According to him, he spent an hour creeping on I-75 south, saw the wreck, decided to take 471 instead, but couldn't use it so he did a U-turn on Columbia Parkway and drove home. 

 

I don't know how you don't know that a major bridge is out...except maybe now in the era of cell phones and hyper-fragmented news, people aren't getting much local news at all. 

Traffic in Downtown Cincinnati has been noticeably more chaotic since the I-471 closure. It seems like a lot of people who don't normally drive downtown are getting routed through the CBD, based on the amount of slow driving and last minute lane changes I have seen in the last week.