The area between I-71, Gilbert, MLK, and Victory Parkway has a ton of boarded up buildings, especially along I-71. Does anybody know if the boarded up buildings are being prepped for demolition as part of the MLK interchange?

 

There are a few boarded up buildings caught on Google Streetview from earlier this year, but there are many more boarded up now:

• Hamilton County Land Bank (transferred June 2014): https://www.google.com/maps/@39.13912,-84.4848465,3a,75y,148.11h,91.36t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s52aA_3q2K9TCCEslqItFjQ!2e0
  
• CMHA: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1370152,-84.4857437,3a,29.3y,123.39h,93.84t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sUycStCmbPJ-MQAvlDimZRQ!2e0
   
  

 

I don't believe that those buildings are being torn down for the ramp project itself but rather the sites will be cleared for redevelopment.  I was at a city meeting in 2010 or 2011 where slides were shown illustrating the entire area rebuilt as something resembling Smith/Edwards. 

 

^ I have heard similar.

Many of those buildings are historically interesting, as they were very early attempt to provide clean and modern housing by the Schmidlapp Trust and Cincinnati Model Homes. 

 

See this link

 

http://www.citykin.com/2008/09/cincinnati-model-homes-1903-to-1919.html

Schmidlapp's biography that he wrote to his sons is in the rare books section of the main library.  It's an extremely interesting read. 

Anyone know the contingency fund for this project?

Are they replacing another bridge? I see new support for another bridge that is not MLK.  If so why make a new one with so little traffic that uses it?

Are they replacing another bridge? I see new support for another bridge that is not MLK.  If so why make a new one with so little traffic that uses it?

 

Yes, the Fredonia Ave. bridge.  When I-71 was built there was industrial activity related to the railroad going on in that shallow ravine, but most of it is gone. 

 

Not a peep from the media or the anti-3CDC about the many poor people displaced by this project. 

 

It was amazing how much infrastructure was built and retained for a railroad that pretty much was not used shortly after I-71's completion.

Yeah it was abandoned two years after I-71 was finished in that area.  So if the interstate was under construction for two years then the bridges and retaining walls were used for just four years total.  The double-track bridge over Victory Parkway would have been re-used for light rail if Metro Moves had passed. 

Photos from 2/22...

 

Adding more supports for a widened MLK overpass:

 

 

The half demolished railroad overpass is still standing:

 

 

Proposal to re-zone some properties around Reading & MLK from auto-oriented to pedestrian-oriented devlopment....

 

 

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/about-city-planning-buildings/city-planning-commission/apr-4-2015-packet/

Hamilton County (Friday, April 10, 2015) – As part of the work to create a new, full movement interchange at Interstate 71 and Martin Luther King Dr., demolition of the remaining half of the Conrail bridge is scheduled for the weekend of April 17-20.

 

Work to dismantle the Conrail bridge located just north of the Martin Luther King Drive overpass will require a full closure of northbound I-71 between the Reading Road/Gilbert Avenue and Dana Avenue exits. This closure will be in place from 10 p.m. Friday, April 17 through 6 a.m. Monday, April 20. Traffic will be detoured to northbound I-75 to eastbound SR 562 to I-71.

 

During demolition, the left lane of southbound I-71 between the Dana and Taft exits will be closed. Once the bridge is dismantled and removed from site, various lane closures will be in place on southbound I-71.

 

During this weekend closure, the following exits to northbound I-71 will be closed: I-471, Second Street, Fifth Street, Gilbert/Reading and McMillan. Detours will be signed.

 

Also, the right two lanes of northbound I-71 through the Lytle Tunnel will be closed; the left lane will remain open with traffic diverted to northbound U.S. 42 (Reading Road) to the Norwood Lateral/SR 562 to I-71.

 

Motorists attending events in downtown Cincinnati the weekend of April 17 - 20 are advised to plan accordingly.

 

Arrow boards and/or signs will be in place to alert motorists of the upcoming road and lane closures.

 

To help ensure the safety of the construction workers as well as the traveling public, motorists should remain alert, reduce their speed and watch for stopped traffic while passing through the work zone.​

 

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D08/Newsreleases/Pages/Full-closure-of-northbound-I-71-April-17-20.aspx

4/12/15:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the other half of the railroad overpass came down this weekend.

Avondale plans walkable development to capitalize on MLK Interchange

Kevin LeMaster - UrbanCincy.com

 

Avondale’s desire to capitalize on the upcoming $106 million MLK Interchange with more dense, walkable development took a big step forward on Monday with the approval of the rezoning of several properties by City Council’s Neighborhoods Committee.

 

If approved by the full City Council on Wednesday, the move would rezone approximately 16.76 acres along Reading Road from commercial community-auto to commercial community-pedestrian.

 

The properties were recommended for the creation of “a more structured street edge” in the September 2014 MLK/Reading Road Corridor Study, and were chosen by the Avondale Community Council, Avondale Comprehensive Development Corporation, and Uptown Consortium.

 

Cont

So it's not really "capitalizing" so much on the MLK interchange but fighting against its impacts.  Seems like a strange sort of urban development "make things worse here so they can be better there" kind of thing. 

^What do you mean by that?

There's just no logical reason for a highway interchange to spur pedestrian-oriented development, quite the opposite in fact, so the headline makes no sense.  It sort of looks like Avondale is using the interchange as a way to say "hey, if we don't rezone this area now, it'll just get even more overrun with automobile-oriented crap."  That's fine, but it's not capitalizing so much as it's reacting against.  The status quo is like boiling the frog slowly to death, but the new interchange is a quick burst of heat that's making them jump out and say "we better get our act together."

I agree that it's not wise to think that a freeway interchange will spur pedestrian oriented development. It shouldn't.  What I think the city is doing correctly here is up zoning these properties and mandating that buildings are built to the lot line, to ensure at least a modicum of urban design principals are upheld, even if the development is still auto dependent. I think it is safe to assume that there will be growth around the interchange, and that's a welcomed thing, as the whole Reading and MLK corridor are so under developed and under performing from an economic perspective.  I think it's a good idea to plan for this growth and establish base-line parameters to try to push for a better end product.

Sounds like a perfect fit! Perhaps NIOSH can design a walkable campus like the plans for the corridor.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/05/22/exclusive-niosh-chief-hints-at-where-110m-lab.html

 

 

So they are building this new interchange with no chance of future expansion of hov, additional lane or Light rail down the median. The pillar they have put up will prevent that. They would have to replace the whole bridge if any of those things happen in the future.

You're surprised about this in Ohio.  They purposely sabotage future transit options and then blame it on the fact that transit advocates don't "lobby" them enough.

The new pillars are not even matching up with the old ones.  Im guessing they will take the whole bridge down to match the new configuration. The other side is the same way.

Light rail would not parallel I-71 at this point in any scheme I've ever seen. Would probably run up to Xavier on city streets or in tunnels, and maybe parallel I-71 north of there.

I saw some kids setting stuff on fire on the MLK overpass tonight on the side that is currently closed for construction.  That's not exactly a low-profile spot to be horsing around on a summer night. 

I know they'll never do this but I'd like this project just a little if after these exits opened they closed off the Taft & McMillan exits.

I know they'll never do this but I'd like this project just a little if after these exits opened they closed off the Taft & McMillan exits.

 

They won't be closed, but I think it's very likely that Taft/Calhoun and McMillan will be converted to two-way at some point. In the past, I have been skeptical that this would ever happen, but with the success of the two-way conversion in Walnut Hills, I can't imagine that it won't be extended all the way to CUF in the future.

They are looking into hard shoulder running on I-71 and I-275.

 

ftp://ftp.dot.state.oh.us/pub/Roadway/Studies/HAM-71-74-Ramp%20Meter%20Study%20(PID%2095568)/2014-12-15%20Report%20Submittal%20IOC.pdf

Step 1: Allow shoulder to be used as a driving lane during peak hours.

Step 2: Convert shoulder to full-time driving lane.

Step 3: Highway is now considered "functionally obsolete" because it no longer has a shoulder, so widen the highway to add a shoulder.

 

Repeat.

I've been having to do the drive from downtown to Blue Ash pretty regularly lately, and it's amazing how there is almost always congestion, save for late at night.  It used to be that outside of rush hours, 71 was generally pretty open.  That's definitely changed. There's no doubt a light rail line along 71 would do really well.

 

In fact, 71 between Cincinnati and Columbus is also generally pretty thick with traffic.  Between the constant speed traps, prevalence of trucks, and the congestion on the 2 lane freeway, it makes for a pretty annoying drive.  I wish we had a train linking the 3C's...oh wait.

Can you imagine the outrage if this article was about anything but a highway project?

 

State: MLK interchange cost still unknown

 

The state still does not have the final cost for the new Uptown Interstate 71 interchange – and Gov. John Kasich's efforts to fast-track a project deemed critical to growing jobs might be the reason the price tag remains unknown more than a year into construction.

W&S chief launches $100M anti-cancer effort

Western & Southern CEO John Barrett said during the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber's annual luncheon that he is leading the effort and that his company already has committed $10 million to the campaign.

...

His goal is for Cincinnati to receive designation as a National Institute of Cancer center. Cincinnati is the largest metropolitan area in the country without the NCI designation, which would draw millions of federal research dollars every year and provide the sickest patients with the best new treatments closer to home.

...

Becoming nationally known for cancer treatment will help the region's economy, Barrett said. He mentioned that new cancer research facilities could be built on the nearly 700 acres of land expected to open up for redevelopment by the new Uptown interchange at Interstate 71 and Martin Luther King Drive.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2015/11/05/ws-chief-launches-100m-anti-cancer-effort/75225316/

 

I'm not sure what he means by "land expected to open up for redevelopment", but 700 acres covers a huge area. The way he worded it makes it sound like he views that whole area as a blank, empty space. And based on Barrett's past record with demolitions, he'd probably be thrilled to bulldoze the entire 700 acres.

 

<end of rant>

 

In all seriousness, it would be great for the Uptown community to have a nationally-recognized cancer center. There are plenty of surface parking lots along MLK where this could go.

I'm totally perplexed by the new Fredonia/Stanton bridge that is being built.

[*]The new bridge is north of the existing bridge, yet all of the alternatives I've seen show the new bridge being south of the old bridge. Does anybody have a image of new interchange that shows the new bridge being north of Fredonia?

[*]The span of the new bridge is significantly narrower than any other spans (including the old bridge). Here's <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1370824,-84.4894199,3a,75y,241h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sazSW9Mmm-01Rx5eehzFy4Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DazSW9Mmm-01Rx5eehzFy4Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D392%26h%3D106%26yaw%3D241.80592%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656">streetview</a> showing the new bridge.

What's going on here?

 

 

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D08/Pages/I-71-MLK-Interchange-Project-Info.aspx

Thanks Travis!

There's a ton to see over there for those who haven't been up there recently.  A new retaining wall is in with a weird phony-trendy "reclaimed wood" pattern.  Also many demos prepping for widening MLK on both sides of the widened overpass.

There's a ton to see over there for those who haven't been up there recently.  A new retaining wall is in with a weird phony-trendy "reclaimed wood" pattern.  Also many demos prepping for widening MLK on both sides of the widened overpass.

 

ODOT's been making some weird design choices statewide. I'm not terribly pleased with the various mis-mash of new infrastructure we've been getting; none of it is cohesive and it's almost all ugly.

The retaining walls are interesting.  Not sure yet if I like them or not, but they're much better than the fake stamped stone that ODOT uses everywhere down here.

The bridge should have been built to support a future extension of the Streetcar. I see they have a dedicated bike path on MLK.

Trouble with these ODOT/Cranley bike paths is that they're just on one side of the street.  That's OK if you're riding west and the path is on the north side of the street, but going the other direction you have to do a very awkward and time-consuming crossing like a pedestrian at each end of the path.  West MLK is the same thing. 

There's a ton to see over there for those who haven't been up there recently.  A new retaining wall is in with a weird phony-trendy "reclaimed wood" pattern.  Also many demos prepping for widening MLK on both sides of the widened overpass.

 

ODOT's been making some weird design choices statewide. I'm not terribly pleased with the various mis-mash of new infrastructure we've been getting; none of it is cohesive and it's almost all ugly.

 

The road, bridge and structural engineers were getting really bored with the dull infrastructure so prevalent from the '70s-mid-2000s in Ohio.

Or at the end of the US 50 freeway/viaduct going to Lower Price Hill. A nice mashup of fake rock stamped into concrete (with no texture coloring) and the original streamlined concrete patterns.

There's a ton to see over there for those who haven't been up there recently.  A new retaining wall is in with a weird phony-trendy "reclaimed wood" pattern.  Also many demos prepping for widening MLK on both sides of the widened overpass.

 

 

I've seen some really nice ODOT retaining walls in other districts - the reclaimed wood wall I've seen used elsewhere to really good effect with many shades of brown used. Is the MLK bridge being replaced?

No the MLK bridge appears to be getting more lanes added to each side.  It looks like the Lincoln Ave. bridge is going to have its weight shifted to a new set of piers to permit a ramp.  There's also a short "tunnel" being built similar to the One Lytle Place tunnel under Fort Washington Way. 

Not sure if this is directly related to the MLK project, but all of the properties have been demolished at the old Lincoln Terrace along Braxton Campbell Ct and Rammelsberg St. The property has been owned by Hamilton County Land Bank since the summer of 2014: http://wedge.hcauditor.org/view/re/0600005005900/2015/summary

 

The properties have been boarded up and vacant for a while, as you can tell from Google Streetview:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1391813,-84.4844734,3a,75y,184.15h,86.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1seoPIyl4VgEHRsqwSzswvFw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

Here's the aerial imagery: http://wedge.hcauditor.org/view/re/0600005005900/2015/aerial_imagery_full

Some info on Lincoln Terrace:

 

From the video description:

Cincinnati, Ohio is known for its "edenesque" parks, stately architecture, and historic neighborhoods like Avondale, Price Hill, Roselawn, and Walnut Hills. If you're travelling down Gilbert Avenue toward nationally recognized Walnut Hills High School, you may be overlooking one of the most significant communities in Cincinnati's African American historical culture. In the early 1900's, Lincoln Terrace- in Walnut Hills was developed as model housing for the working poor by Fifth Third Bank Founder, Jacob G. Schmidlapp. The community was the first of its kind for working poor African American families in the city. Since that time, the community has served as affordable housing for working poor in the area. In recent years, area residents have proactively petitioned Cincinnati city government and private investors to infuse the community with much needed renovations and redevelopment. Unfortunately, their cries have gone virtually unheard... Welcome to Lincoln Terrace... the "Forgotten Walnut Hills".

I suppose I should withhold judgement until the exit opens, but it seems to me that this whole interchange is being massively overbuilt. They've cleared large swaths of highway adjacent housing, including the complete demolition of Lincoln Terrace. Seems like that could have been avoided, but maybe the powers at be decided they could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

I suppose I should withhold judgement until the exit opens, but it seems to me that this whole interchange is being massively overbuilt. They've cleared large swaths of highway adjacent housing, including the complete demolition of Lincoln Terrace. Seems like that could have been avoided, but maybe the powers at be decided they could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

 

Exactly!  It's like A mini Kenyon-Barr all over again.

I went to a meeting circa 2010 where slides were shown of the entire MLK area redeveloped as something resembling Smith/Edwards.  I sent a tweet out to that effect and a night or two later was confronted in person at Grammer's Bar by someone who shall remain nameless who has since left Cincinnati who said something like "those were just drawings!", a pretty pathetic cover for what was planned and what has in fact been carried out.  Somehow all of this flew under the radar of "neighborhood advocates" or perhaps the proponents simply paid off anyone who might have raised an objection several years ago. 

 

As for the actual project, it looks like one will soon exit for MLK and Taft at the same point, with the Taft exit ramp stretching about a mile in total.  Also, the Lincoln Ave. bridge is getting new piers, but it doesn't look like they're going to do anything to the bridge itself.  So the weight of the bridge is simply being shifted about 5 feet in order to make way for this ramp that was not conceived of back in 1964~ or whenever this stretch of I-71 was designed.