^Have those condos been there for 2.5 years already?

^Have those condos been there for 2.5 years already?

 

Longer-----I haven't lived there for over a year.  There are people who lived there for 2 years before I arrived.  So I would guess around 5 years.

The big test will be how well it alleviates traffic that backs up on the eastbound highway.  I have seen this backed up from the exit to 275. (Rush hour). 

 

The final design looks like it should be pretty maneuverable and move cars en masse. 

 

I would love to see some aerial shots of this interchange and the surrounding hills circa 1990.  While I am for development in this area, you know that wider roads will only bring more cars.  The topo constraints are interesting to me because it forces even modern (traffic) engineers to think outside the box and design around the land they haven't cut and filled on. 

 

It's bitter sweet for me because I learned how to hunt on those hilltops (Wesselman side). 

 

I would have been ok with all the new housing if they WOULD have used MORE brick!    :shoot:

 

edit: Ha, 1968 density!  Their is nothing on Harrison Ave.

<a href="http://www.historicaerials.com/?poi=3222"><img src="http://www.historicaerials.com/featuredPOIImage.aspx?poi=3222" /><br />Aerial photography from the past to the present!</a>

New section of Rybolt nearly ready

By Kurt Backscheider • [email protected] • December 13, 2008

http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/C2/20081213/NEWS/812130314/

 

Motorists should soon be able to use New Rybolt Road - the realigned section of Rybolt Road.

 

Green Township Public Services Director Fred Schlimm said everything is going smoothly with construction of the new roadway, the first phase in the project aimed at improving traffic conditions at the intersection of Harrison Avenue, Rybolt Road and Interstate 74.

 

"Old Rybolt Road is reopen to traffic and the new section, which we are calling New Rybolt Road, is awaiting traffic signals and lane markings," he said.

 

...

 

More at:

http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/C2/20081213/NEWS/812130314/

Is the new signal up at Old Rybolt and New Rybolt?

 

The new signal is being installed now.

Hooray! I wonder how long it'll take for them to throw it into full color.

The traffic light is now operational and New Rybolt Road is open.

Yep, driven on it many times. It'll be nice when the entire project is finished so there is a significant volume of vehicles heading South on New Rybolt, discouraging people from turning onto Old Rybolt. The intention is for motorists to turn at the double left onto Harrison, but we shall see how that actually turns out.

Not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere else...

 

I noticed that US-50/Columbia Parkway has been modified between Newtown Road and Old Milford.  It was changed from 2 lanes in each direction to 1 lane each way plus a shared center turn lane.  I'm curious if anybody has information about why this change was made.  The turn lane seems like a waste as there are few driveways through much of this area.

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D08/Pages/PublicInvolvementMeetingSchedule.aspx

See "Hamilton County -US 50 -Terrace Park/NewTown Rd." at bottom of page

 

 

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D08/Pages/PublicInvolvementMeetingSchedule.aspx

See "Hamilton County -US 50 -Terrace Park/NewTown Rd." at bottom of page

 

Thanks.  Here is an excerpt for anyone else curious:

 

Throughout this section of US50, the existing four lane configuration will be converted to three lanes, consisting of one thru lane in each direction and a two-way left turn lane in the middle. The work conducted for this project will occur within existing right-of-way limits.  Currently, the lane widths are 10’ and catch basins are within the traveled lane.  The project will provide for three standard 12’ wide lanes (center lane will be a left turn lane) and move the catch basins outside the traveled lane.  See attached drawing for more detail on the proposed striping change.

City may help fund Interstate 71 study

 

 

A $2.3 million study on how to improve access to Cincinnati neighborhoods along Interstate 71 - and possibly build a new exit at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive - could get money from the city.

 

City Manager Milton Dohoney suggests City Council approve an ordinance on Thursday's agenda that would put $500,000 from the Uptown Consortium, $625,000 from the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments and $679,149 from a federal earmark into an account for the study, being done by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

 

The city would transfer $401,091 into the account from other capital improvement accounts, and use almost $100,000 already in the account.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090121/NEWS01/901210401/1055/NEWS

Isn't there a bedbug epidemic to allocate these resources to?  Or better yet, why don't we redistribute this money to Cincinnati Public Schools, or hire 5-6 more officers?

LOL!  Damn, you beat me to it.

Wooster Pike May Get Boulevard Look

Last Update: 1:07 pm 

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Wooster-Pike-May-Get-Boulevard-Look/gAYLCu6aNU2rDy8ofWCLRg.cspx

 

Artist renderings of the proposed changes along Wooster Pike in Terrace Park A busy road in one local village could get a new look. Terrace Park Village Council is expected to vote next month on whether to approve spending for changes to Wooster Pike.

 

The project would add medians along the road, giving it a boulevard look.

 

The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments recently approved the village's request for more than half a million dollars. But the money won't be available until July 2011.

 

The project would cost the village $86,000. 

 

^Cincinnati's suburbs need more roadways built to this standard.

I'd have to concur!

I believe this is the next phase of the OKI Uptown study done a couple of years ago.  I think it would be wise to keep on top of this since it would affect future alignments and feasibility for the I-71 light rail as well and some interface with the planning for an Uptown Streetcar if they are looking at the streets in Uptown as well.  It was my understanding that this is a City study and not ODOT.

 

Yeah, I would say this study is a good thing for uptown.  It would increase the accessibility of uptown, as well as the Madison corridor.  Seemingly, easier accessibility at one end of the potential streetcar would increase its ridership.  The one exit from 71 in the area at Taft and McMillan is not the greatest, and an exit at MLK has been on the plate for years.  Hopefully the study incorporates light rail, a 71 corridor Uptown stop here, linked to a complete streetcar from uptown to Hyde Park via Madison would be a dream.

That would look really nice on Wooster.  Imagine nice streetscaping in Terrace Park and Newtown, then coming into Mariemont, which is of course beautiful, and then that little ugly stretch of Fairfax before you're greeted by Columbia Parkway.

Sounds like a good idea.  I believe this is the section of US-50 that was recently converted from 2 lanes each way to 1 lane each way + center left turn lane.  So this would improve the look of neighborhood without reducing any capacity.

Scramble Crossings for Cincinnati

http://www.urbancincy.com/2009/03/scramble-crossings-for-cincinnati.html

 

Those who frequent Downtown know how crowded some intersections get with pedestrians throughout the day. There are 23 intersections that see more than 1,000 pedestrians during peak hours. Of those 23, five see more than 2,000 and one (4th & Walnut) sees over 3,000 pedestrians per hour.

 

That's a lot of people walking around and trying to navigate the roadways filled with delivery trucks, taxis, buses, bicyclists and the hurried drivers. In addition to it being frustrating, it can also be dangerous to attempt multiple crossings of the same congested intersection.

 

If pedestrians were able to cross diagonally across intersections with traffic stopped in all directions, it would improve both vehicular and pedestrian flow, but also improve safety across the board.

 

"Scramble crossings" essentially are intersections that do just that. In Cincinnati's case, intersections with high volumes of pedestrian traffic could implement these during their peak volume hours of the day. The "scramble crossings" or "diagonal crossings" could first be implemented at the five intersections that see volume in excess of 2,000 pedestrians per hour, and could be expanded as needed. Be sure to share any other intersections you feel are qualified for such programming in the comment section.

 

Watch this brief 3 minute video about how Los Angeles is implementing these crossings today, and how they are functioning for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

 

Here is a map of Downtown Cincinnati intersection pedestrian counts between 11am-2pm

 

Pedestrian count data from 2008 Pedestrian Count Summary (1mb PDF)

This is a great idea.

I like it!

Kinda funny that in the beginning of the video, the kid carrying the skateboard almost gets hit by a veering biker....instead of a car

There was a suggestion for this at Knowlton's Corner (6-way intersection).  Would it work there?  Are there any other suggestions outside of downtown?  Are there any other nearby cities where this is done?

Seems confusing to me, and those numbers all look a little high, but then again I don't work in downtown cincinnati and i'm sure the peak hours are 8-9am and 5-6pm.

 

Is pedestrian congestion serious enough to warrant the expense?

Is this an actual proposal the city is officially considering?

Also, this type of configuration would be great for the West Clifton/McMillan intersection. There is a ton of pedestrian traffic there during the school year.

Seems confusing to me, and those numbers all look a little high, but then again I don't work in downtown cincinnati and i'm sure the peak hours are 8-9am and 5-6pm.

Peak hours are actually between 12-1 at most intersections.  Some see their peaks between 11am-12pm, and others see their peaks in the evening.  They did the pedestrian counts in both 2007 and 2008.  The report identifies the raw numbers and also examines trends.  I'm assuming they'll do another one this year.  You can check out the report here - http://downtowncincinnati.com/files/uploaded/2008_Pedestrian_Count_Summary.pdf.

 

Is pedestrian congestion serious enough to warrant the expense?

I'm not sure of the costs, but I think they would be minimal, with the majority of cost coming from painting the diagonal cross walks across the intersections.  The reprogramming of signal timing would be minimal.  I have sent this information on to the City's Department of Transportation & Engineering for comment.

 

I would also say that this is not something that is meant to increase capacity for more pedestrian traffic as it is meant to improve safety and efficiency.

 

Is this an actual proposal the city is officially considering?

 

No, it's my proposal.  I like to throw new ideas out there from time to time and keep people thinking.

With the express bus routes using the shoulders of I-71, maybe they should consider putting in HOV lanes there that would handle the buses and carpool vehicles.

I saw one on a video from Tokyo before. The pedestrian traffic was amazing.

We have those in the financial district here in sf.  They function very well.

I cross at these all the time near USC's campus.  Almost everyone here rides bikes or skateboards, so when these are busy it's really crazy and there are a lot of near collisions, but it is definitely a time saver.

Denver has them, they seemed to work really well for the years I lived there and worked downtown.

Indiana, PA has one. It wasn't busy when I visited, but it's a college town with bars, so there probably are times when there are lots of people there.

 

There was a suggestion for this at Knowlton's Corner (6-way intersection). Would it work there? Are there any other suggestions outside of downtown? Are there any other nearby cities where this is done?

5th and Vine

Downtown Huntington WV has a whole phase on their traffic lights dedicated to pedestrian crossing. All they'd have to do is paint lines to have scramble crossings.

When I first moved to Washington, DC in the late 70's, there were several of these around the Metro Center area.  Most people continued to cross in the traditional manner rather then wait for all the traffic to stop.  DC got rid of most, if not all, of them by the mid 80's.  The feeling was that the longer cycles slowed vehicular traffic without much added benefit for pedestrians.

 

This also coincided with the Federal mandated right turn on red rules, which DC fought.  Not sure how that affected things.

 

    In general, traffic signals are times for cars first and pedestrians second. However, some intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic are timed appropriately for pedestrians. The downtown intersections are generous with pedestrian time compared to most intersections, and since there are so many pedestrians, drivers actually watch out for them.

 

    Downtown Cincinnati is special in that all of the traffic signals are coordinated and controlled by a single controller. The timing is designed for corridor flow to keep vehicles moving. If you drive across Sixth Street, for example, and make it through the first light, you should be able to make it through all of them at a steady 25 mph. I've tried it, and it works reasonably well.

 

    The blocks in Cincinnati are mostly square, and this geometry lends itself to corridor timing in both the north-south and east-west directions.

 

    The drawback is that if you try to drive around the block, you get all red lights.

 

    Changing the traffic signal system is no small task. It will be much more difficult than simply painting lines.

 

      That said, I find it frustrating to walk downtown and be delayed by so many traffic signals. The Skywalk concept was supposed to separate pedestrian traffic from the street, but the skywalk has fallen out of fashion.

It's very possible. You can have 5 11 1/2 foot lanes and one shoulder on the right, instead of 4 12 foot lanes and 2 10 foot shoulders.

 

No, you actually can't. The minimum lane width requirement for an interstate is 12 feet, and the minimum outside shoulder width is 10 feet. In addition, since I-71 has 3 or more lanes in both directions, the inside shoulder is supposed to be 10 feet as well. You simply can't restripe an interstate to less than the current standards it meets, as such an action would bring the ire of the Federal Highway Administration against ODOT.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_standards

One HOV lane can carry just as much people as 4 mainlines

 

Most HOV lanes I have seen are 2 occupants or more (such as DC and Atlanta).  Besides, a lot of the people using these lanes would have the same number of occupants in the car even if there weren't HOV lanes (such as families using their car on the freeway).

 

No, you actually can't. The minimum lane width requirement for an interstate is 12 feet, and the minimum outside shoulder width is 10 feet. In addition, since I-71 has 3 or more lanes in both directions, the inside shoulder is supposed to be 10 feet as well. You simply can't restripe an interstate to less than the current standards it meets, as such an action would bring the ire of the Federal Highway Administration against ODOT.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_standards

 

 

Well i know alot of interstates in the LA area use the shoulder as an extra lane. Also the downtown connector in Atlanta does not have 12 foot widths. They had to narrow it to fit the 7-8 lanes in each direction down there.

Well i know alot of interstates in the LA area use the shoulder as an extra lane. Also the downtown connector in Atlanta does not have 12 foot widths. They had to narrow it to fit the 7-8 lanes in each direction down there.

 

Also, in Atlanta the medians (especially in the middle) are much narrower than 10 feet.  Which makes all the "Move Accident Vehicles from Roadway" signs even funnier.  Move to where?

 

Using Google Maps to measure at multiple points, it looks like the lanes in downtown Atlanta are between 11 and 11.5 feet wide (probably closer to 11).

For the most part, Interstate 71 flows quite well -- and much better than Interstate 75 which carries far more intermodal traffic.

 

Interstate 71 has several choke points that need to be remedied. If you do that, then expensive HOV widening can be held off:

1. Add one northbound lane on Interstate 71 through the Norwood Lateral-Ridge Road interchange, and taper off the ramp from the Norwood Lateral (instead of having it continue on as the left-most lane of Interstate 71 northbound). This would provide three continuous lanes with no shifting or lane changes required. This is one of the worst choke points on Interstate 71, and one that reliably congests daily.

2. Add one northbound lane on Interstate 71 on the hill north of Red Bank Expressway, having it taper off south of Kenwood Road.

3. Add a collector/distributor ramp for Interstate 71 so that merging traffic from the Ronald Reagan can speed up without merging abruptly.

4. Extend the ramp to Interstate 275 to Pfeiffer Road for Interstate 71 northbound.

5. Add a continuous lane between Edwards Road and Dana Avenue interchange for southbound Interstate 71, much like for northbound traffic.

6. Add signage 2 miles back from the Interstate 471, Reading Road interchange mess. Having a mass of signage pop up only 1/2 mile before the split results in mass lane changes (I note this daily on my commute).

Fixing the lane problems at the Lateral and Ridge would likely even help further up stream at the Kenwood Cut in the Hill. I would put that first on the list, which is where you have at.

Kenwood Road gets makeover

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090402/NEWS01/904020346

 

By Steve Kemme • [email protected]  • April 2, 2009

 

MADEIRA - A nearly 2-mile section of Kenwood Road, one of the East Side's major north-south arteries, will undergo a $4.5 million makeover starting this summer.

Advertisement

 

The 17-month project will include tearing up and reconstructing Kenwood Road, adding a sidewalk on its east side and building new curbs and storm water drains.

Well i know alot of interstates in the LA area use the shoulder as an extra lane. Also the downtown connector in Atlanta does not have 12 foot widths. They had to narrow it to fit the 7-8 lanes in each direction down there.

 

Also, in Atlanta the medians (especially in the middle) are much narrower than 10 feet. Which makes all the "Move Accident Vehicles from Roadway" signs even funnier. Move to where?

 

Using Google Maps to measure at multiple points, it looks like the lanes in downtown Atlanta are between 11 and 11.5 feet wide (probably closer to 11).

 

I doubt that, they most likely 12' wide, that requirement is as old as the Interstate system itself

Well i know alot of interstates in the LA area use the shoulder as an extra lane. Also the downtown connector in Atlanta does not have 12 foot widths. They had to narrow it to fit the 7-8 lanes in each direction down there.

 

Also, in Atlanta the medians (especially in the middle) are much narrower than 10 feet. Which makes all the "Move Accident Vehicles from Roadway" signs even funnier. Move to where?

 

Using Google Maps to measure at multiple points, it looks like the lanes in downtown Atlanta are between 11 and 11.5 feet wide (probably closer to 11).

 

I doubt that, they most likely 12' wide, that requirement is as old as the Interstate system itself

 

Yep, narrow lanes are not conducive for safety nor speed. Constricted lanes are one of the better form of passive traffic calming out there. Don't believe me? Find a roadway with three lanes in both directions with 10' lanes and be sandwiched by two semis. I bet you'll be very aware of your speed.

That principle works for slower speed streets, not major interstate highways that carry cars and tractor-trailers.