It doesn't make sense to do it separately, it will only prolong the mess and would obviously create duplications in the road work.

Monte, its the government, you should expect it to be done in the dumbest way possible. I think the interchange is slated to be done after the I-75 widening, so 2015+!

the federal highway trust fund is in serious financial troubles, if everything stays the same 2015 will be their sixth year of bankruptcy

Monte, its the government, you should expect it to be done in the dumbest way possible. I think the interchange is slated to be done after the I-75 widening, so 2015+!

 

#$%& *@#$ %^&% $#@$ *&^%

 

Ok, I am done cursing ODOT.

 

Maybe they could have saved some money by not putting so many silhouettes of the Wright Flyer in the I-75/I-70 interchange bridges so they could build us damn fly over ramps down in Cincinnati.  I mean, while I am all for a comprehensive rail system, if Cincinnati is going to be car dependent, at least do it right.  That interchange is horrid and an embarrassment to ODOT. 

Does anyone know where copies of the original concept pictures can be found?  I see all the construction and want to see what the final product will be.  I saw them once at Enquirer.com, but I could find them in a search now.

http://www.humannature.cc/index.asp?page=open_central_parkway

thanks

 

This may seem like a strange quesion.... but.....

 

Why in Cincinnati are trucks not permitted to drive on the Parkways? (i.e. Central Parkway, Victory Parkway, Columbia Parkway... etc)

There's a major road, highway, if you can call it that called the Natchez Trace that runs a pretty good distance that even prohibits vehicles with commercial signage ... and if you're caught on it, forget about it ... there's no sympathy.

Why in Cincinnati are trucks not permitted to drive on the Parkways? (i.e. Central Parkway, Victory Parkway, Columbia Parkway... etc)

 

Not just Cincy: the idea originated when driving was a recreation.  The idea of a parkway was to get away from commerical traffic and buildings, and have an enjoyable driving experience.

 

I had friends in college whose parents belonged to the Atlanta Driving Club.  The club house was adjacent to Piedmont Park and was very upscale.

I have an even better question. Why do we park on a drive way and drive on a park way?

I have an even better question. Why do we park on a drive way and drive on a park way?

 

Ha ha, David ... you're so funny ... ;)

If you keep your car in the garage then break down on a parkway, the world rights itself.

I'm giving my car a carport. I refuse to give my car the same living standards as myself ;)

I'm giving my car a carport. I refuse to give my car the same living standards as myself ;)

 

You live in a house with concrete floors, little insulation and an overall unfinished look?

No but it's almost that bad LOL! Still, why would my car deserve those amenities? My mom's cars have convenient access to the beer fridge. That's just asinine.

 

    The parkway concept goes back to the beginning of the automobile era. The 1907 Kessler Plan proposed the construction of Central Parkway, Victory Parkway, and Columbia Parkway, as well as some others that didn't get built. The idea was to separate traffic, and keep all commercial traffic and streetcars off of the parkways. In the case of Central Parkway, the concept extended to Western Hills Viaduct, where the commercial traffic and streetcars used the lower level, and the top level connected to Central Parkway. The concept somehow carries on today, with signs saying "No trucks allowed; local shipments must enter at nearest side street" or something like that.

 

    For Columbia Parkway especially, the grades and curves are probably not very good for trucks.

 

   

 

   

Council to acquire property for Colerain-West Fork-Virginia improvements

Building Cincinnati, 10/29/07

 

City Council has voted unanimously to appropriate property for improvements to the Colerain-West Fork-Virginia intersection in Northside.

 

The $4.9 million project, which has support from the Northside Community Council, will impact ten properties, including two businesses.

 

...

 

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

LABELLED GOOGLE AERIAL MAP: Appropriated parcels*

 

Portion of 1863 Chase Avenue, facing demolition

 

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/10/council-to-acquire-property-for.html

 

Newport on record: Don't close I-471 ramps

November 5, 2007 | CINCINNATI POST

 

Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli says he expects the city's board of commissioners tonight to approve a resolution opposing closing Interstate 471 exit and entrance ramps at Memorial Parkway and Grand Avenue in Newport.

 

The mayor said a closing isn't imminent, but he said such a possibility has been among numerous ideas discussed as state and regional transportation planners try to figure out how to improve traffic flow on I-471.

I'm in favor of Alternate 2B, as it lessens the impact of the Interstate 471 SB offramp to the surrounding neighborhood, and lessens the traffic on the residential streets and Third Street. Instead, traffic will either travel left onto Fairfield Avenue, or to Riviera Blvd., where they can turn right into the city or left towards Fairfield Avenue (going right I assume).

 

It also provides an ideal connection for SB traffic, and will lessen congestion and reduce weaving, and remove the "temporary" connection.

I also like Alternate 5A although it was dropped from the plan. The "island" of homes is now more continuous, and traffic is fulled towards a traffic circle, which should perform well in ideal situations. I think that during peak times, like rush-hour, could overwhelm it though.

If 2B is the one that I think it is, I'm in favor of it.  To be honest, my main concern is the dangerous off-ramp that currently exists from I-471 South to KY 8.  If they close or reroute that to another location (near the Party Source), it would be a major improvement.  I'm not sure that you can do too much to reconnect "The Newport Island" to the rest of the city, but moving the current Route 8 ramp would at least repair the damage done to the neighborhood near 2nd Street and Park Avenue.

 

I'm not quite sure why they're considering closing Newport's two other ramps.  That would only compound the current problem with the northernmost ramp.  Sounds like a bad idea to me.

If 2B is the one that I think it is, I'm in favor of it.  To be honest, my main concern is the dangerous off-ramp that currently exists from I-471 South to KY 8.  If they close or reroute that to another location (near the Party Source), it would be a major improvement.  I'm not sure that you can do too much to reconnect "The Newport Island" to the rest of the city, but moving the current Route 8 ramp would at least repair the damage done to the neighborhood near 2nd Street and Park Avenue.

 

I'm not quite sure why they're considering closing Newport's two other ramps.  That would only compound the current problem with the northernmost ramp.  Sounds like a bad idea to me.

 

5A removes the I-471 NB ramp system as it currently stands, and redirects them closer to the interstate and Ohio River crossing. An access road is provided for the "island" and land is opened up for potential infill along the floodwall.

I didn't like 5A because it seemed needlessly complicated for what it was actually accomplishing.  Yes, the Newport Island would get a new access road, but it appears to lose its current access road to the new exit ramp from 471 North.  I suppose a park could be built where the current ramp is, but the island would still be pretty isolated from everything else.

 

Several businesses would also have to be demolished for the 2nd round-about.  Not that I'm in love with fast food joints and strip malls, but they already exist and should be respected if at all possible. 

 

Additionally, it leaves the 471 North ramp onto KY 8 open, which does has a quick 180 degree bend before taking over the residential Park Avenue.  Sure, some traffic would be diverted to the round-about near Kroger, but you've still got a dangerous off ramp (in the middle of a neighborhood) for NOTL traffic to back up on.

 

I do like roundabouts and I'm all for trying to make the Newport Island a better place to live, but I wasn't really into plan 5A because it didn't fully address the problems at hand.  Maybe none of the plans can do that, but 5A involved a lot of street redesign and construction for something that left some issues on the table.  I guess it doesn't matter, since it wasn't selected.  Wish those round-abouts could have made it, though.

"I didn't like 5A because it seemed needlessly complicated for what it was actually accomplishing.  Yes, the Newport Island would get a new access road, but it appears to lose its current access road to the new exit ramp from 471 North.  I suppose a park could be built where the current ramp is, but the island would still be pretty isolated from everything else."

 

True, but the land could also be used for redevelopment. Since it lies within a floodwall and is bounded by that and the interstate, it could be used for an upscale development -- given that there is one being developed at the current end of the Interstate 471 NB ramp system.

 

"Several businesses would also have to be demolished for the 2nd round-about."

 

It almost looks as if it will just be parking lots that will be sacrificed. Given the rapid change in development patterns in the area, I would not be surprised if these strip centers were demolished in ten years.

 

My only beef is the roundabout. They work great on low volume roads or roads that do not experience peak-hour congestion, which would certaintly occur at the roundabouts in the diagrams. Since they are at the ends of interchanges that see peak traffic only during a few hours of the day, it would cause congestion to back up onto the interstate possibly.

 

I would like to see more roundabouts placed in the city though... I love them better than traffic circles :)

"I didn't like 5A because it seemed needlessly complicated for what it was actually accomplishing.  Yes, the Newport Island would get a new access road, but it appears to lose its current access road to the new exit ramp from 471 North.  I suppose a park could be built where the current ramp is, but the island would still be pretty isolated from everything else."

 

True, but the land could also be used for redevelopment. Since it lies within a floodwall and is bounded by that and the interstate, it could be used for an upscale development -- given that there is one being developed at the current end of the Interstate 471 NB ramp system.

 

Good point.  I hadn't considered building additional housing there, due to the historic nature of the current neighborhood.  That might actually make it seem less isolated, as well as provide an opportunity for affordable new housing in the area (as opposed to the $250k+ condos all along the riverfront).

 

"Several businesses would also have to be demolished for the 2nd round-about."

 

It almost looks as if it will just be parking lots that will be sacrificed. Given the rapid change in development patterns in the area, I would not be surprised if these strip centers were demolished in ten years.

 

Actually, the round-about is right on top of a Donato's, McDonald's, and Lee's Famous Recipe.  The re-routed road goes right through some crappy dollar store.  Again, not huge losses in my opinion, but they're still the current landholders and need to be accounted for.  I agree that most of that will likely be gone/turned over in the next 10 years, though.

 

 

My only beef is the roundabout. They work great on low volume roads or roads that do not experience peak-hour congestion, which would certaintly occur at the roundabouts in the diagrams. Since they are at the ends of interchanges that see peak traffic only during a few hours of the day, it would cause congestion to back up onto the interstate possibly.

 

I like the round-abouts, in theory, but I tend to agree with you here.  They're neat, but the only experience I have with them is at NKU.  Granted, they're a fairly new feature there, but I constantly see drivers who have no idea how to use them.  I assume that this will change in time, as drivers get used to seeing them and figure out how they are supposed to work.  But I'm not sure that the best place for them is at the end of an expressway off-ramp, particularly with an inexperienced public.

Finally! This project only made me chronically late to work for the past 2 years.  I won't miss my daily drives though LPH on my way home. What a disaster zone. Another positive is the view that open up along the river. It's quite a vista. I believe this was my first thread on UO. :-)

 

$10 Million River Road Renovations Completed

Reported by: Ian Preuth, [email protected]

Last Update: 1:42 pm

 

The roadway was renovated from Illinois Avenue to Mount Echo Road. That section of River Road was brought up to modern standards with the addition of improved sidewalks along each side and turn lanes at key intersections. The entire River Road improvement project cost $10 million.

 

To read more: http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=2bf422b4-30cd-4a42-bb9b-33313abd7622

Wahoo, and soon enough they're going to be looking to plow through much of LPH to create a solid/more navigable highway passage to the Westside of Cincinnati and beyond.

Anyone know how this project is progressing?

yea, slowly but surely.  :-)

They're starting to plant trees now!

Thx.  I know they had set a target date for finishing by the end of the year. is that still possible?

I would certainly hope so...it's not like they widening the Suez Canal or anything here.

I-471 proposals down to 3

Goal is to get rid of backups on bridge

BY SCOTT WARTMAN | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

January 11, 2008

 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet used public input to whittle down to three the proposals for eliminating backups on southbound Interstate 471 on the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge.

 

All three proposals to improve the interchange at southbound Ky. 8 would involve a fourth southbound lane on I-471 and improvements to Ky. 8 between Patchen Avenue in Bellevue and Washington Avenue in Newport, said Warren Iulg, project manager for GRW Engineers, the consultant on the project.

"Some Newport residents have opposed leaving the exit ramp open because it dumps a high volume of traffic onto Park Avenue in a residential neighborhood."

 

Hey, that's me!  :-D  Seriously though, this is a highly dangerous exit ramp.  For those unfamiliar with it, or who might have just not noticed, it wraps completely around 20 or so homes on 2nd Street in Newport, and residents have to make a blind turn directly onto the ramp from an alley every time they leave their street.  In fact, local traffic from 2nd Street dumps onto the exit ramp from both sides on separate blocks, in addition to the local traffic from Park Avenue and 3rd Street from the south.  It's a wonder that no one has been killed on that ramp yet (assuming that no one has, I've only lived in Newport for about 3 years).  As long as they close that ramp, they can do pretty much whatever else they want, as far as I'm concerned. 

 

They modified the ramp recently, making it three lanes wide after the bend, which has actually helped reduce the frequent backups onto the Big Mac Bridge.  The problem is that now the traffic just comes through faster because it doesn't back up when the light goes red.  So they've eliminated a really obvious dangerous situation, but in the process made a less obvious problem more dangerous.

 

Everyone talks about how bad The Newport Island is, but at least their streets are safe.  5 houses on Park Avenue are actually located directly on the exit ramp; even more if you count the ones that don't face Park and the apartment building.  I feel REALLY bad for them and the people who live within the 471 RT 8 ramp.

 

Here's a view of this mess from above:

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=ahlering+alley+and+park+avenue+newport+ky&sll=39.097233,-84.49144&sspn=0.002015,0.003873&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=39.097574,-84.492127&spn=0.001665,0.002494&z=19

^I've got a solution for ya...move to Cincinnati.  :wink:

^ Hey, if they leave this ramp as is, and Cincy builds that streetcar, I just might!

^ Hey, if they leave this ramp as is, and Cincy builds that streetcar, I just might!

 

Write a letter to councilmembers informing them that you are considering a move if they do indeed build the streetcar.  That is a powerful argument.

Picture a rainbow of bridges

Many have suggestions on how to paint spans

BY JESSICA BROWN | January 14, 2008

 

We've got the bright yellow "Big Mac" bridge. We've got the lavender Purple People Bridge. But the colors of the other four Ohio River bridges aren't so eye-catching.  Several people want to change that. The Enquirer has received suggestions to brighten the river crossings with new shades of paint. One person suggested painting the Taylor-Southgate Bridge (near Great American Ball Park) red to celebrate the Reds. Another suggested a bright "Bengals" shade of orange for the Roebling Suspension Bridge (close to Paul Brown Stadium). One man suggested computer-controlled LED or fiberoptic lights so the bridges could change color for seasons, home games, or whatever.

 

"It would really make us stand out," said Alan McLaughlin of Clifton. "Lots of cities are doing different things with lights. I really think it would put us on the tourism map."  They can lobby the Kentucky Transportation cabinet, which chooses the bridge colors, said Nancy Wood, spokeswoman for

 

Kentucky Department of Transportation District 6. Kentucky transportation officials are in charge of most Ohio/Kentucky bridges. The exception is the Newport Southbank Purple People pedestrian bridge, which belongs to Newport.  The new paint job would be a choice the community would have to live with for decades, as bridge repaints can cost millions and can last at least 30 years.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS01/801140349

You know...what I don't understand is why so many people seem to be attached to the idea of painting these bridges the colors of local sports teams.  I mean don't get me wrong...I looove the sports, but not nearly everyone does.  Should we really sell out our bridges to these teams as well?

I have to question if it's a good idea to paint these bridges in these bright colors that tend to fade in the sun.  The Purple People Bridge isn't so purple now.

I think painting them the colors of the sports teams is a good idea.  I would rather have them red and orange then just some random color like blue, green, teal, etc...

six bridges, painting them at five million a piece would be $30 million.

I don't like the idea of painting them colors of the teams, only because I don't think red or orange would look particularly good.  I don't think a non-sportsfan would say, "Gee, I really like that color, but I hate baseball so change the color!"

 

I think they should all be painted blue since we are "The Blue Chip City"!!

I think they should all be painted blue since we are "The Blue Chip City"!!

 

Blue is a great color!

Man, I love the Enquirer.

 

Their "What Color Should the Suspension Bridge Be?" poll must've gotten a ton of hits.

I don't like the idea of painting them colors of the teams, only because I don't think red or orange would look particularly good.  I don't think a non-sportsfan would say, "Gee, I really like that color, but I hate baseball so change the color!"

 

That's not really what I was getting at...my point was that while some are sports fans and want to pay tribute to the local teams...others are not.  So what happens to their interests in the matter?  I like sports but I also like to be respectful of history.  I personally think that the Roebling should stay true to its original color scheme, and not necessarily go forward with a Kentucky Wildcat Blue scheme.

 

We've already given up a huge chuck of our riverfront to professional sports franchises...do we also have to stretch that to our bridges?

The Purple People Bridge isn't so purple because the paint fades -- as what does happen to all bridges that are painted in something other than steel gray or other drab colors. Bridges are often painted every fifteen to twenty years, so by the time the PPB is repainted, it should still hold some of that purple hue.

 

Of note, the twin Ashland, KY (to Coal Grove, OH) spans down the river were repainted in bright green and bright blue -- from steel gray. They are the city's colors and look really quite stunning and nice. They will be illuminated with lights, and were repainted not only because it was needed, but because the city wanted something a little more... different.

 

Ironton, OH-Russell, KY's span is a baby blue. I remember when this was a shade of green...

 

The Maysville, KY-Aberdeen, OH cable-span has a blue underbelly. Looks really vivid still.

^I was just over the Ashland spans last week, I really liked the colors. And not being from the area, I didn't know the colors were of any significance, just as I don't think many visitors (or even residents) of Daytonati will know the reasoning behind any bridge paint schemes.

^I think that Bengal stripes might be decipherable.