looks like they are getting ready to rebuild one of the bridges over Blue Rock, but I'm just guessing

Major pavement rehabilitation from I-74 up to Blue Rock; remove 6" of asphalt, break apart the concrete base and repave with 11.5" of new asphalt

Minor pavement rehabilitation from Blue Rock to Colerain - repaving.

Work to I-74 interchange bridges, some ramps wil be closed for 30 days. Detour will use continuous runaround being constructed at SR 128 below I-275/I-74.... No work to Blue Rock Bridges

They must have not been happy with the previous repaving of that stretch... as could be seen by the fact that they had to patch both lane transitions due to severe potholing a few years back. Thanks for the info!

Wow, they are really starting from scratch with this one.  Doesn't surprise me, though for reasons helm stated and the right lane quickly went downhill and is full of bumps.

 

Have you guys noticed that the repave just after the Winton Rd. exit already has flaws in it?  I know we had a rough winter, but other interstates were able to manage. 

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/d08/Pages/default.aspx

 

I-275 Texas Turnaround to be deployed Sept. 5

 

Hamilton County (Friday, Sept. 5, 2014)  – The I-275 resurfacing project in Hamilton County will require the closure of two ramps to perform work operations, and the first closure – from southbound I-275 to eastbound I-74 will be implemented Friday, Sept. 5 at 9 p.m. for 30 days.

 

Traffic wishing to access these ramps will be rerouted by way of a maintenance of traffic operation known as the Texas Turnaround, which essentially is an extended U-turn for I-74 and I-275.

 

Southbound I-275 traffic traveling on to eastbound I-74 will continue on west I-74/south I-275 and exit at SR 128 where traffic will enter the far left lane to access a dedicated lane that will carry traffic to eastbound I-74. Traffic accessing the turnaround will not wait on a traffic signal.

 

Upon completion of this work, the ramp from westbound I-74 to northbound I-275 will be closed for 30 days with traffic diverted to westbound I-74 to SR 128 to access the turnaround to eastbound I-74 for eventual access to northbound I-275.

 

During these ramp closures, the ramp from SR 128 to westbound I-74 and the park and ride lot on SR 128 will be closed. The turnaround will add approximately five minutes to a commute under normal traffic conditions. Diagrams below depict how the turnaround operates.​

 

 

I-74/275 Texas Turnaround

The I-275 resurfacing project in Hamilton County will require closure of two ramps to perform work operations. A maintenance of traffic operation known as the Texas Turnaround will be deployed to divert traffic to an alternate route. The Texas Turnaround is essentially an extended U-turn for I-74 and I-275 traffic.

 

Map

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D08/Documents/Texas%20Turnaround/Texas%20Turnaround.pdf

I went through this yesterday and it was *ok*.... my only complaint is that there isn't a good separation between local Miamitown traffic and through 275 traffic, so its likely that 275 traffic will get stopped at the light when traffic backs up, which will be a complete nightmare.

Norwood Lateral potentially converted to a boulevard? This would be huge for Norwood:

 

Well that's something I didn't expect to hear about. Has there been previous rumblings of a boulevard conversion that I just managed to miss?

This is the first I've heard of it. It will be interesting to see hot ODOT reacts to this resolution, since the Norwood Lateral plays a role in the long-planned I-74 extension. Perhaps this, combined with the opposition to the Eastern Corridor project, will finally end ODOT's hopes for an I-74 extension.

There was a proposal by Eric Kearney to rename the Norwood Lateral to "Barack Obama Lateral" or something stupid like that. Then someone recommended renaming it the "Carl Lindner Lateral" or something stupid like that.

 

Maybe that's how the conversation got started. I think some people recommended renaming it the Norwood Boulevard or something.

I created a thread specifically for discussion of the Norwood Lateral

If the Lateral is rebuilt, a provision for rail could be easily made meaning the Rapid Transit Loop could be rebuilt in something resembling its original form.  And it would be very useful now since buses (if not rail) on Paddock, Reading, and Montgomery could transfer passengers at this point to a much faster downtown routing. 

This would be great for Norwood to make this happen. Unfortunately ODOT is not known to be neighborhood friendly. They seem to be more interested in tearing neighborhoods out to make room for more highways.

 

If they actually listened to the residents of the communities they are effecting, and not so focused on shaving 5 minutes off people's commute while displacing population that would be great.

I'm told that Section 2 of the motion was removed. So much for that.

 

Trying to get more details.

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

 

WEST CHESTER TWP. —

 

A new kind of interchange design could be coming to Interstate 75’s Union Centre Boulevard exit to help alleviate traffic in and around the area.

 

Dubbed the “diverging diamond interchange” — or DDI — and already in use at 63 interchanges nationwide, the design is aimed at boosting safety and enhancing overall operations, according to the Butler County Engineer’s Office, which presented the idea to trustees during a Tuesday work session.

 

The design directs traffic to criss-cross to the left side while passing over the interchange bridge for the sake of better and more continuous traffic flow, according to Matt Loeffler, a BCEO traffic engineer.

 

Traffic lights would hold oncoming traffic during each crossover stage.

 

“If you’re traveling from Muhlhauser Road heading east and you just want to go straight through over to (The Streets of West Chester) to go see a movie at the theater, as you approach the current intersection you would go over to the left side through a signal to the left side of the bridge,” Loeffler said.

 

The design also allows free flowing left turn movement like a typical right turn movement onto the interstate, he said.

 

“It’s intuitive,” he said. “If you know you need to go north, you’ll be in the left hand lanes to make your movement.”

 

Advantages to such an interchange include alleviating congestion, eliminating left-turn conflicts and reducing the amount of conflict points created via left-turn and straight-through movements, Loeffler said.

 

Such an interchange also creates the opportunity to safely accommodate pedestrians via a center walkway and creates a “calming effect” on vehicles because motorists reduce speeds while navigating the interchange, he said.

......

 

There is one of these in Lexington, and every time I've driven on it I feel genuinely weird when driving on the left side of the road.

An article I found referenced $5-$6 million btw.

Of course it's a highway project so the original article doesn't even mention a possible cost.

What in the world is the "Journal-News"?

They're fun to do burnouts on since the lights have you start at the bottom of an uphill.

Of course it's a highway project so the original article doesn't even mention a possible cost.

 

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

It's weird that they even mentioned pedestrians.  I don't see a single single sidewalk in those aerial shots anyway.

I think one is planned in NKY for the Richwood exit in 71/75.

Old topic, I know, but I'm seeing barrels and a lot of weird detour signs on 71 around the lateral.  Anyone know what's going on?  District 8's website is unhelpful, and it's not listed on DOTE.  I'm seeing (still covered) signs indicating a detour for *north* 71 on the southbound side until Dana, then exiting at Dana presumably to U-turn to go back north.  So exit ramp work I guess?

I was wondering myself and managed to find a reference to painting of the I&O Railroad overpass, which has been happening overnight for almost two weeks now.  I guess they've been closing some of the onramps so they can have room to work.  Sadly they're just repainting the bridge a drab gray.  The orange paint on all the surrounding road bridges is very sharp, and it still looks good after some 15 years. 

I thought it was because of the ramp closure to I-75 southbound. They even have HAR(highway advisory radio) active.

^I've seen all the stuff to do with the lateral at 75, and this seems like more than that.  I mean, why would they detour 71-N traffic onto 71 south because of a ramp closure on 75? 

 

Maybe the rail overpass is the answer - wait and see.

My guess about that is that they're closing the Edwards to NB I-71 ramp so they're detouring anyone from there onto SB I-71 to Dana and back north.  I think they're also closing the EB Lateral to SB I-71 ramp and detouring via Ridge. 

I was wondering myself and managed to find a reference to painting of the I&O Railroad overpass, which has been happening overnight for almost two weeks now.  I guess they've been closing some of the onramps so they can have room to work.  Sadly they're just repainting the bridge a drab gray.  The orange paint on all the surrounding road bridges is very sharp, and it still looks good after some 15 years. 

 

I drove by there last night and they were indeed painting the railroad bridge. Unfortunately there was a major multi-vehicle crash just north of the railroad bridge, which I assume was caused by a driver who did not see the lane closings far enough in advance.

Does anybody know much about the $88 million Jeremiah Morrow bridge replacement? From my non-engineering perspective, it appears like a massive waste of money. The project website says that the old bridge was still safe, but "needs" replacement because it cannot support trucks that weigh 120,000 lbs. What kind of truck weighs that much?! <a href="http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/Freight/sw/overview/index.htm">Federal standards have a max weight of 80,000 lbs</a>. Any truck that weighs over 80,000 lbs can either a) take a different route or b) split the load onto two trucks. This just smells like over-engineering for the sake of spending some federal/state funds on a rural area. 

 

http://www.omniproservices.com/jeremiah-morrow-bridge-replacement-project.html

 

 

There is a separate thread for the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge project. The consensus there is that, yes, it's a waste of money. One of the reasons it is being replaced is because everybody got scared about truss bridges after the I-35W bridge collapse so we're fast-tracking their replacements.

It is rather sad how extra wasteful interstate highways get when you move from 2 lanes each way to 3.  With 2 lanes you only need a full right shoulder and a small left shoulder, but once you move to three lanes you need full right and left shoulders as well.  The modern interstate highway with three lanes each way dedicates fully 40% of its pavement to shoulders.  In the case of Jeremiah Morrow, which was 2 lanes and (essentially) no shoulders on either side, the new cross section is 150% larger than before with only a 50% increase in usable capacity.

ODOT's plan for the Ridge exit on I-71N: http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/odot-to-realign-i-71-near-ridge-road-exit-next-fall

 

ODOT plans to remove the northbound Ridge Road exit and extend the second-to-right lane all the way to the Red Bank Road exit. A second dedicated left-turn lane will be added at the foot of the remaining Ridge Road exit, and Ridge Road will be widened to accommodate two lanes’ worth of traffic.

Amazing how we can spend over $4 billion on interstate highways in the Cincinnati area over a period of about 10-15 years and nobody notices because it's split up into a bunch of smaller projects.

 

[*] I-75 Brent Spence Bridge ($2.6B)

[*] I-75 Mill Creek Expressway ($800M)

[*] I-75 Thru the Valley ($500M)

[*] I-71 MLK interchange ($80M)

[*] I-71 Ridge Road modifications (Can't find cost)

[*] I-71 Fields Ertel improvements (Can't find cost)

[*] I-71 Western Row interchange ($16M)

[*] I-71 Jeremiah Morrow Bridge replacement ($90M)

How's the traffic at Fields-Ertel now that they finished up that cloverleaf? Did it actually do anything to ease traffic at that intersection?I'm (thankfully) never up that way any more to check it out for myself.

I don't know for sure, but it appeared it did move the backed up traffic off the highway enough that it wasn't as hazardous to everyone. But it looked like it achieved that merely by bunching up all the traffic closer to the light in more lanes.

Old thread... but here's a link to the latest update on this project: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/04/04/here-are-the-changes-coming-to-mlk-drive.html

Implosion of Greater Cincinnati bridge to impact weekend traffic

 

The old southbound span of the Jeremiah Morrow bridge over Interstate 71 in Warren County is to come tumbling down on Sunday, the Dayton Daily News reports.

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to implode the half-century-old structure that has been replaced by construction of a new bridge over the Little Miami River in Oregonia after six years and $104 million in construction.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/04/20/implosion-of-greater-cincinnati-bridge-to-impact.html

Check out this story from WCPO on the new bridge:

 

 

Notice anything missing?

 

 

 

 

...

 

 

 

 

...

 

 

 

 

Ok, I'll tell you: the cost! They fail to mention that this single half-mile bridge is costing taxpayers $88.1 million dollars.

 

Funny how the media doesn't mention the cost when it comes to roads, but they lead with the cost when it comes to transit.

Implosion of Greater Cincinnati bridge to impact weekend traffic

 

The old southbound span of the Jeremiah Morrow bridge over Interstate 71 in Warren County is to come tumbling down on Sunday, the Dayton Daily News reports.

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to implode the half-century-old structure that has been replaced by construction of a new bridge over the Little Miami River in Oregonia after six years and $104 million in construction .

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/04/20/implosion-of-greater-cincinnati-bridge-to-impact.html

 

Looks like the cost went up

104 MILLION DOLLARS? For something only hipsters and the homeless will use?

104 MILLION DOLLARS? For something only hipsters and the homeless will use?

 

It only goes less than a mile, and then just from one hill to another hill! What a boondoggle! -the bridge trolls

 

 

Literally no local media outlet will even mention that the cost of the project rose while it was under construction.

:wtf:

 

If at first you don’t succeed … bridge implosion to close I-71 again

 

 

Interstate 71 will be closed again Sunday as crews make another attempt at imploding what's left of the original Jeremiah Morrow Bridge, WVXU reports.

 

The highway in Warren County was shut down April 23 for the demolition, but the Ohio Department of Transportation said only three of the old spans were imploded.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/04/26/if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-bridge-implosion-to.html

SECOND implosion fails:

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/warren-county/part-of-old-jeremiah-morrow-bridge-just-wont-budge

What's hilarious is that we replaced the old bridge with a new one because it was allegedly in danger of falling down. And they literally can't bring it down after two attempts to blow it up.

What's hilarious is that we replaced the old bridge with a new one because the it was allegedly in danger of falling down. And they literally can't bring it down after two attempts to blow it up.

 

Was it ever quoted as being "in danger of falling"? I don't remember that. The fact that the JMB was fracture critical was mentioned but the real impetus was that it was only rated for 80,000lb capacity.

^well the whole impetus was the Minneapolis bridge collapse.  We were told that this bridge was "similar". 

Well it is.  It was certainly getting on in years too.  I'm not surprised they had some trouble demoing it with no load on it. 

Time to deconstruct, Japanese-style!

 

^well the whole impetus was the Minneapolis bridge collapse.  We were told that this bridge was "similar".

 

Should the bridge not have been replaced? It seems dumb to have a major interstate like 71 not have the structures needed to support modern oversized trucking loads.