I don't think they found his body yet. It happend 3-4 weeks ago.

Couldn't find a good place to post this other than here.  BTW that guy mentioned above, he didn't even stop the car, he just jumped out of the car and jumped over the bridge railing, incredible!

 

Why 'Cut' warning might work

 

By Luke E. Saladin

Post staff reporter

 

SLOWING DOWN

Representatives from local law enforcement agencies are hopeful the sign will get drivers, especially those operating trucks and tractor-trailers, to slow down.

 

Police are in agreement that speed is the cause of most of the wrecks on the Cut in the Hill.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070111/NEWS01/701110345

Toll booths on I-75?

Private firm could lease the highway

BY MICHAEL COLLINS | CINCINNATI POST

March 17, 2007

 

WASHINGTON - Faced with the daunting prospect of finding $3 billion to replace the Brent Spence Bridge, some civic leaders in Kentucky and Ohio are starting to wonder if the answer might be to lease to a private company a 6.5-mile stretch of the interstate that includes the span.

 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters suggested the approach recently during a meeting with a delegation from the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/NEWS02/703170345

so free for local traffic? but pay for through traffic? I'm guessing if you have to pay you will not be able to get off southbound until after Kyles lane and the Western Hills viaduct going Northbound.

Bridge work options disruptive

BY KERRY DUKE | CINCINNATI POST

April 3, 2007

 

CINCINNATI - The Brent Spence Bridge project could displace or otherwise impact at least 114 residences and businesses in Northern Kentucky and as many as 183, depending on which of the five alternative plans for the bridge is chosen.

 

Those numbers are in a new report that will be among many criteria bridge planners will consider as they determine which option for renovating or replacing the bridge to continue to study - and ultimately which alternative they will choose for the massive project.

 

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070403/NEWS01/704030369

Bridge options need land

BY KEVIN EIGELBACH | CINCINNATI POST

April 11, 2007

 

The five alternatives for fixing Brent Spence problem

 

The value of the property in Ohio needed for the Brent Spence Bridge ranges from $25.3 million to nearly $40 million, depending on which of the five alternative plans for the bridge is chosen.

 

 

    "Bridge traffic is expected to grow to more than 200,000 vehicles a day over the next 10 to 15 years."

 

    I would like to see the source of that information.

 

we are looking at a price tag of $200 for every singler person in ohio and kentucky combined.

For whom the bridge tolls

Planners consider alternative I-71/75 bridge funding

BY SCOTT WARTMAN | [email protected]

April 12, 2007

 

CINCINNATI - Tight purse strings in Washington may mean money to complete the Interstate 71/75 Brent Spence Bridge replacement will have to come from elsewhere - possibly a public-private partnership or by charging tolls.

 

Planners say they will consider every option when trying to find the $2 billion to $3 billion it will take to replace the bridge. Construction could begin in 2015.

Toll for bridge is opposed

Most Democrat gubernatorial hopefuls against it

BY PATRICK CROWLEY | [email protected]

April 13, 2007

 

The majority of Democrats running for governor would not support charging a toll to help pay for the planned $3 billion replacement of the Interstate 71/75 Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River.

 

"There is no question that we have got to fix this bridge," said former lieutenant governor Steve Beshear, one of six candidates who appeared Thursday night in a debate at Campbell County High School.

Brent Spence lane closed

BY LUKE E. SALADIN | CINCINNATI POST

May 8, 2007

 

One of the northbound lanes on the Brent Spence Bridge is closed this week so crews can make repairs to the bottom of the deck above it.

 

Sharon Smigielski, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation, said crews are removing unsound concrete from the bottom of the southbound lanes and replacing it with an adhesive substance to hold the structure in place.

>Local officials have been lobbying federal leaders for the past few years for funds to either replace or renovate the bridge.

 

BTW a few weeks ago a reputable source (someone with a real engineering job and who has been going to all the meetings) told me that ODOT, etc., are secretly drawing up plans for the so-called Ludlow Route.  This would be a 2X2 or 3X3 route paralleling the Cincinnati Southern RR north and downhill from Kyle's Lane with a bridge parallel to the Cincinnati Southern Bridge and a tie-in with I-75 around Ezzard Charles Dr.  We talked about this over a year ago on this site but I'm not going to track down the posts.  Apparently the costs of all these Covington proposals are spiraling out of control with the climb above Longworth Hall causing much larger approaches. 

 

^ That really does not surprise me at all. The cost of the bridge replacement and new approaches alone qualifies it as a mega-project. With Kentucky investing so much money into the Ohio River Bridges Project (ORBP), it really does not have that much money to play around with. With the ORBP, the costs have escalated so much that finding funding for the bridges is becoming next-to-impossible because it would sap up funding for other projects for years -- such as the Brent Spence Bridge Replacement (BSBR).

 

Now they are discussing tolling options for the East End Bridge and the Downtown Bridge as a way to defray the extreme costs due to the rising basic material prices (post-Katrina). I surmise much the same is happening with the BSBR project. Tolling it would prove to be infeasible, IMO, because you would need to construct a toll plaza -- but where? Covington is built out as-is and there would not be room for ... say, a 12-lane toll plaza. Even if you implemented open-road tolling with EZ-PASS, you would still need to have manual toll-booths. And then where would you place the booth? At the bottom where there is an increased risk of accidents? Or at the top?

 

Then you need to solve the issue with the FHWA. Existing interstate highways that were constructed with federal dollars cannot be tolled without a lot of legwork involved.

 

The Ludlow alignment may provide more room for a toll plaza if need be, and IMO would be more practical in the long-run.

Start in 2015!?!?@!  What in the crap is taking this project soooo long??

 

Portman: Expedite Brent Spence Bridge study

BY LAURA BAVERMAN | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

June 8, 2007

 

CINCINNATI - Rob Portman, who as a Congressman helped secure $45.6 million for the Brent Spence Bridge Rehabilitation/Replacement Project in 2005's federal transportation bill, today encouraged the OKI Regional Council of Governments to expedite its study of the project so it can petition for more money in a federal transit bill scheduled for 2009.

because there is no money.  the highway trust fund will be bankrupt by the time the project gets off the ground and I doubt congress wants to raise the gas tax in this political climate.

That fund will go bankrupt by 2009. Also of note, Kentucky will be tapping a substantial sum for the Ohio River Bridges Project.

all that money went to the Big Dig. Amazing.

*sigh* Far from the truth.

^ The state of massachusetts couldn't afford 15 billion for a highway and tunnel. It came from the federal Government. That project is a disaster, it's still leaking.

$14.6 billion in actual construction costs, plus a lot of extras regarding the tile and leak repair. The project was a state and federal government venture, and 100% of the money did not "come from the federal government." The amount of obstacles and the nightmare logistics of keeping an existing elevated highway open, plus the construction of the tunnel, pushed construction costs higher -- along with some corruption, which is not all too unusual anymore. The tunnel had to be dug through mostly landfill, had to pass by existing subway lines, pipes, and utilities that either had to be moved, replaced, or left alone, pass by numerous geological and archaeological artifacts.

 

And please do not give the baloney that demolishing the elevated viaduct and replacing it with _nothing_ would have been ideal. The city of Boston received much needed green space as a result of the burial of Interstate 93, property values increased as a direct result, and traffic is much smoother and safer.

 

Whereas Interstate 93's viaduct was rapidly aging and in a severe, deteoriated condition, the Brent Spence Bridge is nowhere near that condition. Continued maintenance and deck rehabilitation projects should extend the life of the span by many years. Congestion issues aside -- and note the span has less AADT than the elevated Interstate 93 viaduct -- the bridge and interstate approach ramps serve its intended purpose.

With how dangerous that bridge (and approaches) is and how populated NKY is and is becoming I am surprised that this isnt more of an emergency situation. In my own personal opinion I think it should definately come before 2 bridges in Ky going to relatively sparsely populated areas in Indiana.

Um.

 

Interstate 65 carries 132,200 AADT (2004) over the Ohio River, well over the capacity for a six-lane span. It has no shoulders, limited-sight distances, and has short acceleration and deceleration lanes at the Kennedy Interchange (which is due for an overhaul as part of The Ohio River Bridges Project). It connects with a metro area of over one million, and Indiana is hardly "sparsely" populated. There is much through-traffic, given that there is no functioning (and reasonable) bypass.

 

Interstate 265 in Kentucky (north of Interstate 64) carries near or over 60,000 AADT (2004) to Interstate 71, where it drops to 20,200 to US 42 (as it is incomplete to the river and Indiana). The new East End Bridge is designed to be six-lanes and will act as a bypass of the Louisville metro area.

 

In comparison, Interstate 71/75's Ohio River span carries 148,000 AADT, and it is eight-lanes with deficient interchanges.

 

Remember that Interstate 71/75 was reconstructed in the early 1990s from the top of the Covington hill to the base to remove a dangerous curve and to reduce the grade. There is not much else you can do with the highway outside of total relocation to the Ludlow alignment.

Well, worse case scenario.  We could just replace the span with a ferry which in turn might force alot of former and wannabe bucks to move on back to the right side of the river, thus increasing the population of Hamilton Cty and the city.    THIS IS A WIN WIN IDEA AS FAR AS OHIO IS CONCERNED!   :clap:

^ I love your optimism!

 

I would rather they demolish the existing span and construct it on the Ludlow alignment as an eight-lane interstate highway. I'm doubtful that will happen though.

Actually early on in the current study a bridge at the Anderson Ferry was studied and what effect it would have on removing traffic from the existing bridge.  The effect was minimal, something like 6,000 vehicles per day. 

 

However using that same logic I would like to see what a sub-interstate standard bridge and parkway up to Buttermilk Pike would do.  Obviously the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge diverts some traffic from the existing bridge but it's unclear how much especially since an automobile crossing has existed in that location since 1929.  In fact if direct connections were built between I-75 around 5th St. in Cincinnati and the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge then perhaps the Covington 5th St. ramps could be removed from I-75/71 just south of the Brent Spence.   

 

The central problem is that ODOT, etc., have painted themselves into corners by requiring all new urban expressway construction to more or less meet rural standards.  This has made any reconstruction outrageously expensive and diminished its cost-benefit.  This is why the I-71 Martin Luther King interchange is seemingly never going to happen...because they're requiring a full interchange with double shoulders and all that.  So Ohio and Kentucky could possibly circumvent their own dumb laws by building a state highway bridge instead of an interstate bridge.  This would likely reduce the amount of federal funds it would receive but also possibly reduce local costs too simply because of the much smaller scale of the improvements. 

 

So picture a bridge on the scale of the Taylor-Southgate next to the Cincinnati Southern RR bridge with a four lane parkway (possibly cars-only) heading uphill three miles to Buttermilk Pike.  Top speed would be 50-55mph.  Much narrower ROW (55~ft.) than an interstate because of minimal emergengy shoulders.  Single-lane on and off ramps to I-75 near Buttermilk Pike, a short elevated crossing in Cincinnati between the new bridge and the Freeman Ave. ramps.  Also possibly a partial interchange with the 6th St. Expressway allowing downtown and I-71 access via FWW from the new bridge to and from Kentucky.         

 

How many vehicles would such a bridge and parkway attract?  I'm sure at least 50,000 which would put Brent Spence Bridge usage back down at 1970~ levels and possibly allow it to be restriped for six lanes.  Also with the new bridge the Brent Spence could eventually be replaced where it exists currently with all traffic rerouted temporarily over the new bridge.  If they rerouted interstate traffic on local streets around the Ft. Pitt Tunnel in Pittsburgh they can do it here on a new four lane parkway.   

 

 

 

The central problem is that ODOT, etc., have painted themselves into corners by requiring all new urban expressway construction to more or less meet rural standards.  This has made any reconstruction outrageously expensive and diminished its cost-benefit.  This is why the I-71 Martin Luther King interchange is seemingly never going to happen...because they're requiring a full interchange with double shoulders and all that.  So Ohio and Kentucky could possibly circumvent their own dumb laws by building a state highway bridge instead of an interstate bridge.  This would likely reduce the amount of federal funds it would receive but also possibly reduce local costs too simply because of the much smaller scale of the improvements.

 

I'm unsure if this is just an ODOT issue. With the Atlanta Station project in Georgia, GDOT was pretty much forcing the city and developer to accept a wide four-lane bridge with shoulders and turn lanes, with wide sidewalks, undecorated barriers, and etc. The tree plantings were also on the outer border of the sidewalk instead of the inner. It was purely constructed to suburban interstate standards. I can't recall where I read this at, but it was from an article at either UP or SSC.

 

Kentucky has the same issue. The interstate highway bridges along Interstate 471, for instance, feature suburban geometrics and design specifications.

 

So picture a bridge on the scale of the Taylor-Southgate next to the Cincinnati Southern RR bridge with a four lane parkway (possibly cars-only) heading uphill three miles to Buttermilk Pike.  Top speed would be 50-55mph.  Much narrower ROW (55~ft.) than an interstate because of minimal emergengy shoulders.  Single-lane on and off ramps to I-75 near Buttermilk Pike, a short elevated crossing in Cincinnati between the new bridge and the Freeman Ave. ramps.  Also possibly a partial interchange with the 6th St. Expressway allowing downtown and I-71 access via FWW from the new bridge to and from Kentucky.       

 

How many vehicles would such a bridge and parkway attract?  I'm sure at least 50,000 which would put Brent Spence Bridge usage back down at 1970~ levels and possibly allow it to be restriped for six lanes.  Also with the new bridge the Brent Spence could eventually be replaced where it exists currently with all traffic rerouted temporarily over the new bridge.  If they rerouted interstate traffic on local streets around the Ft. Pitt Tunnel in Pittsburgh they can do it here on a new four lane parkway.

 

I could see this happening if ODOT and KYTC were not so dead set on their ways. Unfortunately, the parkway would have 12 ft. shoulders, 20 ft. clear zones, a 40 ft. grassy depression or 12 ft. variable median, and other suburban interstate characteristics.

 

  Jake's idea of making better use of the Clay Wade Bailey bridge has some merit. Just compare traffic on the two bridges on mid-afternoon. The Brent Spence southbound approaches are backed up for miles. The Clay Wade Bailey is nearly empty.

 

  Eliminating the I-75 ramps at Covington and improving access to the Clay Wade Bailey bridge on the Ohio side may well take some traffic off of I-75, or at least clear up some of those weaving movements on the bridge. If you get on I-75 north in Covington, for example, and want to go west on U.S. 50, you have to move about 4 lanes left on the bridge itself.

 

    I am personally not excited about a new bridge. Why should we pay billions so that more commuters can travel between West Chester and Florence? It's the same old interstate highway and sprawl debate, except it involves a bridge.

 

>The interstate highway bridges along Interstate 471, for instance, feature suburban geometrics and design specifications.

 

Really the most destructive element of I-471 is the mile in Ohio which required the big Mt. Adams retaining wall.  Mishaps and construction of that wall caused nearly every building on that side of Mt. Adams downhill from Oregeon St. to be demolished.  Not only did it literally destroy a whole side of Mt. Adams, it prevents the incline from being rebuilt.  And there's no argument that I-471 *had* to be built...like so much else people in that county worried the modern era was going to pass them by and so politicians fought for that interstate even though there's hardly any developable land along it.  It made the US 27 strip in Alexandria possible, but the world would still be turning without it.  It was all about simply getting an interstate in the county, it didn't matter where it went.  Look at the original plans for I-471...parallel to the river and branching off I-71/75 at 5th St.  The irony of course is that I-471 is one of the most attractive urban interstates in the country.  I remember when it opened and it really felt like you were flying because the concrete was so new and there was no traffic.       

 

>Eliminating the I-75 ramps at Covington and improving access to the Clay Wade Bailey bridge on the Ohio side may well take some traffic off of I-75, or at least clear up some of those weaving movements on the bridge. If you get on I-75 north in Covington, for example, and want to go west on U.S. 50, you have to move about 4 lanes left on the bridge itself.

 

My argument is that a number of small improvements in combination could free up a lot of capacity and remove stress from the existing bridge. 

 

>I am personally not excited about a new bridge. Why should we pay billions so that more commuters can travel between West Chester and Florence? It's the same old interstate highway and sprawl debate, except it involves a bridge.

 

Exactly...tons of people commute across the river and that was made possible by construction of such an elaborate interstate system (although oddly the I-275 bypass doesn't get much use due to its extreme size) and location of the region's airport in Kentucky.  The airport attracted tons of development on its own...perhaps if it hadn't been built (or allowed to become the region's primary airport) there would be no need to replace the bridge. 

 

>Unfortunately, the parkway would have 12 ft. shoulders, 20 ft. clear zones, a 40 ft. grassy depression or 12 ft. variable median, and other suburban interstate characteristics.

 

In cities with "functionally obsolete" roadways like New York, Boston, and Pittsburgh, life goes on despite their lousy roads.  And while their might be more accidents overall, because of the lower speed there are fewer fatal accidents.  Really, would reconstruction of the Gowanus or Cross-Bronx expressways or the Manhattan and Queensboro Bridge approaches to modern specs take New York to the next level?  My whole beef with "improvements" to I-75, etc., is that on one hand widened emergency shoulders and rebuilt interchanges will be safer but with higher rush hour speeds there will be much more dangerous stop-and-go events.  As is I-75 frequently gets up to 40-50mph for a half mile and then stops again.  If that changes to 65-75mph between stops then more severe accidents take place.  You're going to get seriously banged up in a 40mph collision but a 60mph collision is going to create problems for the rest of your life.  That's why a lot of serious accidents happen on I-270 in Columbus but there really don't seem to be that many fatal accidents on I-75 in Cincinnati, despite the reputation.   

 

For example if you're going westbound on the lateral to I-75 south, there is that terrible on-ramp that curves as you merge.  Why aren't there accidents there all the time?  Because the right lane of I-75 slows down to 40mph during rush hour and during stop-and-go periods.  Speed I-75 up to 60-70mph with a huge crush of cars and mergin becomes a lot more dangerous.  And merging in Cincinnati will always be a problem in Cincinnati where there are few flat stretches of land.  Especially if you are going uphill on a merge, small cars can't get up to 60mph without downshifting and taching up to 6K.  Lower typical mainline traffic to 45-50mph and merging is both safer and doesn't affect mainline traffic as severely. 

 

ODOT, etc., need a second set of design standards for urban areas.  A dramatically different signage system as well as different guard rails and so on could help drivers wake up and realize they're in a slower area with tighter design specs.       

 

 

Quick bridge study is urged

Officials say timing critical

BY ALICE HAYMOND | CINCINNATI POST

June 13, 2007

 

CINCINNATI - A study that will ultimately determine which of five options to use to replace or renovate the Brent Spence Bridge should be accelerated, U.S. budget director Rob Portman told a local transportation planning group.

 

Portman, a former congressman from Cincinnati and now director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, has asked for an acceleration of the study on the Brent Spence Bridge project that is now due to be complete in the fall of 2008. The study will be a factor in how much funding the project will receive from the Federal Transportation Reauthorization Bill in 2009.

We may have a better shot at landing some form of light rail before this bridge gets off the ground.

 

"The council is currently working with Congress on how to finance this $2 billion to $3 billion project."

 

I HOPE I AM WRONG but I am seeing major corruption involved with this figure range.    I know estimating is not an exact science.   But on a project that started at 750 million and has slowly crept up to 3 Billion. 

I think some &#@holes are opening up swiss bank accounts in preparation of the start of this.  Wouldn't you think they would have a +/- of a couple million depending on some snags along the way. (Land Acquisition, Const. Costs, etc.)               

I do love to watch government spend our money!! :whip:  

No, that's not corruption. That's the sad realization of today's ever escalating construction costs that occurred after Hurricane Katrina. Everything, from steel to concrete to rebar and etc. have affected every state DOT. For instance, the East End Bridge in Louisville was $230 million in early 2006, $270 million in late 2006,  and now $378 million. In 2005, the bridge's cost rose 60% alone. The entire Ohio River Bridges Project escalated from $1.9 billion in 2003, to $2.5 in 2005, and now $3.9 billion. Another project in West Virginia, a concrete paving project, escalated 60% in one year before work even began!

Needing a solution to the Brent Spence problem is not just about suburban commuters. The airport location and the extraordinary high number of trucks is really the core of the problem. If you do something like JMeck recommended you pull off a bunch of local traffic and let the trucks (and Michigan drivers) dominate and keep the Brent Spence usable for much longer. It would also make the west side more accessible to KY and the airport. I'm not sure if that will help the WS economy or if would just be easier for the WS to move to Boone Cty.

 

 

>If you do something like JMeck recommended you pull off a bunch of local traffic and let the trucks (and Michigan drivers) dominate and keep the Brent Spence usable for much longer. It would also make the west side more accessible to KY and the airport. I'm not sure if that will help the WS economy or if would just be easier for the WS to move to Boone Cty.

 

 

The problem with that though is that fully loaded trucks cause exponentially more stress on a bridge than do cars.  I read somewhere that a fully loaded truck creates the same level of stress as 11,000 cars.  Not sure if I believe that but let there be no doubt that trucks are the primary cause of highway and bridge fatigue. 

 

Obviously light rail into Covington and Kenton and Boone Counties BEFORE the bridge is rebuilt would make way too much sense so let's not even discuss it. 

^i think that figure is wrong. The most trucks can weigh is 80,000 lbs (40 Tons). Lets say the average car weighs 1 ton (most weigh between 1 and 2 tons). That means every truck is like 40 cars.... If we take off a lot of local traffic cars, which would eliminate a lot of traffic, that means a net reduction in stress on the bridge, even if the number of trucks increas.

think about this, those 40 cars would have 160 points of pressure on the road (4 wheels per car) whereas the truck only has 18 points of pressure for a similar amount of weight. 

 

It is like a woman in high heels being more likely to break through a flimsy floorboard (ice, whatever) then a heavier man in sneakers.

It's not 11,000 cars or the excess stress, but the vibrations that count. Interstate 64/77/79 through Charleston, WVa, for instance, had to have its Corten sign supports replaced with conventional galvanized steel because of excess vibration from the roadway. It was causing the sign to weaken at the base -- as it was one of the first commercial Corten applications in the nation, the supports were not nearly as study as modern Corten sign supports. Or take the Cuyahoga River Interstate 77 crossing. Excess vibration from the bridge's girders caused a sign support to crack.

 

And here is something interesting, from the FHWA --

"The analysis of tridem axles for the North American Trade Scenarios was based on a spacing of nine feet between the two

outer axles of the tridem group, as discussed in Chapter V. At the 44,000 pound limit there would be no increase in bridge stress, however for the 51,000 pound limit there would be a considerable increase in bridge stress."

 

I would pull up Ch. 5 from the FHWA for more information, but their site seems to be down now.

Todays traffic on the bridge is RIDICULOUS. If this is a sign on what construction will be like for the 5-10 years to build the bridge I would just take I-471 and cut across through newport and covington and get back on. It took over an hour to cross the bridge today. They have 2 lanes closed.

OMG it's still backed up. Here is a story

 

 

Due to a planned construction project taking place on I-71/I-75 at the Brent Spence Bridge, Cincinnati police are advising drivers to choose alternate routes when heading to Northern Kentucky this weekend.

Traffic backups are lasting anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours, with one out-of-town driver reporting that he waited through three hours of stand-still traffic before getting past the construction zone on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

Crews are removing crumbling concrete from the entrance ramps from both interstates on the Brent Spence Bridge, which is only effecting southbound traffic.

 

On average, traffic is backed up all the way to Mitchell Avenue on I-75 and close to Gilbert Avenue on I-71.

 

On The WCPO.com Live Channel:

Take a live look at the ARTIMIS cameras in the area of the traffic backup  

 

 

If you have to cross from Ohio into Kentucky, your best bet is to take I-471 to I-275, then back to I-71.

 

Also, be sure to leave extra time if traveling to the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, as alternate routes will now be likely to see more traffic due to the construction zone.

 

The work is to continue until 5 a.m. Monday.

 

Perhaps this congestion can be used as an example of why a more comprehensive transportation solution is needed.

 

 

Unfortunately, that won't happen.

Perhaps it is because people choose not to heed signage, news reports, television counts, etc. about the project? The overhead VMS gives clear notification of the major and necessary delays; a friend reported that it was on the news stations and that drivers should seek alternative routes.

 

Plan ahead. Don't be stuck in traffic. Through traffic, stick to Interstate 275 (preferably the west side); local traffic, stick to the local avenues (before the descent on NB I-75) or try your luck on Interstate 471...

I went out to Green Township yesterday, and I took I75 North to I74.  I was amazed at how far the traffic was backed up on the South side.  It was at least to I74.  On my way back home, I just took the Central Parkway exit off I74.  I still got home pretty quickly.

The signs north of I-275 on I-75 were showing detour to I-275 east to I-71 south, then to I-471. Yet, majority of the traffic continued on south 75. The sign said delay up to one hour.  Stupid people and truckers.

The stupid signs messages rarely are correct when I encounter them, they say there is an accident and there is NO accident etc.  I don't trust the signs and probably would have stayed on the highway if I were driving on it. They really need to stop crying wolf and make that thing minute to minute accurate.

^ So I suppose you have highway funding available to install hundreds of traffic cameras and staff the bank of monitors to adequately do that?

Well, I don't use the highway much anymore so I guess it really doesn't matter to me what the signs say.. :-D  It would be nice if people would call them when an accident/construction has been cleared up, like the police, dispatcher etc. I called them a couple of times...

I think the Artimis hotline (511 from a cell phone) is way more accurate and useful than the signs.  They give a lot more information, such as the average speed.

^which was 5 mph or less the last 2 days. I know i was sitting 10-15 mins and didn't move an inch.

^which was 5 mph or less the last 2 days. I know i was sitting 10-15 mins and didn't move an inch.

 

Yep....when I called the number on Saturday, they said the average speed between the Norwood Lateral and the Ohio River going southbound was 7 mph. 

My argument is that a number of small improvements in combination could free up a lot of capacity and remove stress from the existing bridge. 

 

jmecklenborg is exactly right - this project has been gold plated from the start - some of the proposals include a new bridge with seven lanes in both directions!  And you have to keep in mind that the project includes more than the bridge and approaches.  The project includes the rebuilding and widening of the interstate from just south of the Western Hills Viaduct to just south of the Kyles Lane interchange.  So yes construction costs have gone up but the scale of this project has been out of line from the start. 

 

jmecklenborg's ideas of closing the 4th street ramp and better use of the Clay, Wade, Bailey bridge are some great "low-cost" ways to get much more out of the existing infrastructure.  Get some bus shoulder lanes up and running and we are halfway home for 5% of the cost.

^which was 5 mph or less the last 2 days. I know i was sitting 10-15 mins and didn't move an inch.

 

Yep....when I called the number on Saturday, they said the average speed between the Norwood Lateral and the Ohio River going southbound was 7 mph. 

 

that is slower than a segway