Interesting. I do like the way they look though.

Even more interesting: the new Mitchell Ave. overpass is clear span steel beams (no center pier like the old overpass) but the new one is concrete beams.  Two completely different building types right next door to one another.  In the future most road nerds will first suspect that these two overpasses were rebuilt as part of different phases. 

Another big factor to consider is commodity prices at a given time. If steel is expensive, then you'll see more concrete structures, and vice-versa. Also, I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the expertise of local engineers and contractors within a given market. Highway departments may also have a certain institutional preference for one material or another, regardless of the actual merits of the product. ODOT has obviously been specifying steel for a long time and that's what they're comfortable with, while CalTrans seems to have a strong preference for concrete.

 

Concrete box girder structures are ideal for longer spans with irregular geometry (such as curved freeway ramps), which makes them ideal for the sprawling freeway interchanges that are so common here. The downside is that they're typically post-tensioned, which means steel cables cast inside the concrete are pulled tight after the concrete sets, which increases the strength of the span. But the process of post-tensioning requires some specialized expertise that may not exist to a large degree in Ohio.

Good observations. 

 

If I'm not mistaken, all of the FWW grid bridges (Vine, Race, etc.) are post-tensioned box girder.

 

I managed the installation of the C/S "tunnel" under the 3rd street expressway (US 50).  I have a friend who is with the Corps now but designed several of the bridges for FWW at the other end if the project.  I'll see if he has any further insight. 

Wow Will I-75 be raised 10+ feet in the area? Why couldn't it have been the same height as before? Im sure this raised the cost of the project.

It looks like it will be about 5 feet higher.  Probably to even out the grades to improve sightlines. 

An old project schedule from March 2008:

 

 

According to the latest posted schedule:

 

* Work on the Mitchell Ave./I-75 and Colerain/I-74 interchanges will be complete by Sept. 2014.

* Reconstruction on I-75 from the Western Hills Viaduct to the new Monmouth St. overpass will start next month and be complete by Sept. 2016. This includes the new Hopple St. overpass.

* Reconstruction on I-75 from Monmouth St. to Mitchell Ave. won't start until March 2024 and won't be complete until August 2027.

* Reconstruction on I-75 from Mitchell Ave. to the Norwood Lateral won't start until March 2025 and won't be complete until May 2026.

* They haven't even set a timeline yet for the reconstruction of I-75 from the Norwood Lateral to the Trickle Down Turnpike.

Trickle Down Turnpike.

 

LOL. Now that's a new one for me.

It looks like most of these projects will be moved up.  The state is sending $470 million to SW Ohio.  $363.3 million for I-75.

 

http://www.fox19.com/story/22901667/ohio-speeding-up-road-projects-with-turnpike-bonds

Southbound traffic was switched over to the new Mitchell Ave. overpass late last week and half of the old overpass was demo'd over the weekend. 

https://www.facebook.com/ODOTDistrict8

 

• Widening the Mill Creek Expressway around the I-74/I-75 interchange between Hopple Street and Mitchell Avenue in 2017 – a $161 million project originally slated to start in 2021.

• Adding an additional lane to the northbound and southbound portions of the highway between Mitchell Avenue and the Norwood Lateral in 2018 – a $38 million project moved up from a planned 2021 start date.

• Adding an extra through lane along I-75 at Glendale-Milford and Shepherd Lane near GE Aviation’s headquarters – a $117 million project set to start in 2016, as scheduled.

 

On August 7, the ramp from Bates Ave to I-74 will permanently close. A temporary ramp will open from Central Parkway to I-74, in the vicinity of the office building that was recently demolished between Central Parkway and I-75. The temporary ramp will remain in operation until the permanent ramp from Hopple Street to I-74 opens in 2015.

Southbound traffic was switched over to the new Mitchell Ave. overpass late last week and half of the old overpass was demo'd over the weekend. 

 

April 30, 2013:

 

August 13, 2013:

 

 

Also, the new Hopple Street overpass is coming along:

Yeah, it almost appears as if they're creating a center reservation at Mitchell Ave. for a transit line.

^I thought Jake mentioned up thread that there is rail ROW included. 

Rail ROW is included in the plan, but not in the median of the highway. Once they are finished with the construction, with four lanes + breakdown lanes in each direction, that entire median area will be filled with asphalt.

Where would the ROW be? Along the retaining wall? West of I-75?

A decade of construction expected on I-75

By Jake Mecklenborg, UrbanCincy.com, Courier contributor

 

In the early 2000s the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) developed plans to widen and modernize Interstate 75 between the Ohio River and Interstate 275.

 

The $531.7 million Millcreek Expressway Project was slow to commence because of state and federal funding problems related to declining gasoline tax revenue. In 2009, a $7 million overpass connecting Monmouth Street and Central Parkway (Phase 2) received federal stimulus funding and, without ceremony, kicked off what will be a decade of continuous construction.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2013/08/a-decade-of-construction-expected-on.html

I'm still not getting the need for Hopple to pass over Central Parkway.  I mean, the way Hopple is currently angled in its approach to Central isn't acceptable, but making it an overpass seems like overkill and will definitely change the feeling of that portion of Central Parkway and make it feel even less pedestrian-friendly. what problems does this solve?

^I believe the main (if not only) reason for it was to reduce the dangerous number of turns to get over the highway or down to Central. The tight left turn followed by a right hand turn that larger vehicles couldn't even make to go north onto Central Parkway wasn't working and really couldn't work without having a properly aligned intersection. And it wasn't possible for Hopple to properly intersect with Central at that spot.

 

At least, this is what I've heard through various sources and whatnot. I'm sure somebody on here can validate or refute this.

I'm still not getting the need for Hopple to pass over Central Parkway.  I mean, the way Hopple is currently angled in its approach to Central isn't acceptable, but making it an overpass seems like overkill and will definitely change the feeling of that portion of Central Parkway and make it feel even less pedestrian-friendly. what problems does this solve?

 

It’s all about safety factors – the exit ramps have to intersect the road at 90 degrees exactly and turning radii have to be either 200 or 250 feet (can’t remember exactly).  Applying blanket rules like that results in monstrosities like the Hopple Street interchange.  Safety factors are a little too strict in my opnion, and should be negotiable.  There’s really no reason the Brent Spence Bridge needs 12’-0” wide shoulders on both sides, for instance. How much cost is added making the bridge 24’-0” wider vs. how much safety is improved? A few cameras and overhead lane closure/warning lights could probably have the same increase in safety for 1/1000 the cost.

 

One way rich people get richer is putting outrageous safety regulations in place.  This increases the cost of a project, creates a sense of urgency where there is no practical problem, and works to block alternate modes.  For example, Amtrak requires the heaviest passenger trains in the world, which caused the delays and the overruns in the Acella program. 

 

As for highways, an average of 600-700 people die per year in emergency shoulders.  They are by no means a complete solution, but they are extremely expensive to build, especially on bridges.  Before I-75 was I-75, it had gravel shoulders and no shoulders whatsoever on overpasses.  Those extra piers you see at Mitchell, Clifton, etc., were added to create emergency shoulders about 3 or 4 years after the highway first opened.  Meanwhile NYC and many places on the east coast have no shoulders and there are no plans to build them.   

One way rich people get richer is putting outrageous safety regulations in place.  This increases the cost of a project, creates a sense of urgency where there is no practical problem, and works to block alternate modes.  For example, Amtrak requires the heaviest passenger trains in the world, which caused the delays and the overruns in the Acella program. 

 

As for highways, an average of 600-700 people die per year in emergency shoulders.  They are by no means a complete solution, but they are extremely expensive to build, especially on bridges.  Before I-75 was I-75, it had gravel shoulders and no shoulders whatsoever on overpasses.  Those extra piers you see at Mitchell, Clifton, etc., were added to create emergency shoulders about 3 or 4 years after the highway first opened.  Meanwhile NYC and many places on the east coast have no shoulders and there are no plans to build them.   

 

Don't forget that ODOT builds 13-foot highway lanes even though USDOT only requires 12-foot lanes. It may not seem by a lot, but multiply 1 foot by the number of interstate highway lane-miles in the state of Ohio, and that's a lot of extra asphalt.

Don't forget that ODOT builds 13-foot highway lanes even though USDOT only requires 12-foot lanes. It may not seem by a lot, but multiply 1 foot by the number of interstate highway lane-miles in the state of Ohio, and that's a lot of extra asphalt.

 

Simply put,  that is FALSE

Grade separating Central Parkway and Hopple might be ugly, and not pedestrian friendly, but it should really free a lot of traffic. It's presently in the top 20 busiest intersections in Hamilton County.

>It's presently in the top 20 busiest intersections in Hamilton County.

 

...which wouldn't make the top 100, if not 500, in the New York City metro. 

Don't forget that ODOT builds 13-foot highway lanes even though USDOT only requires 12-foot lanes. It may not seem by a lot, but multiply 1 foot by the number of interstate highway lane-miles in the state of Ohio, and that's a lot of extra asphalt.

 

Simply put,  that is FALSE

 

That read that in something that Angie Schmitt from Streetsblog had written. Can't find it at the moment.

 

I have been working a lot in the Pittsburgh area the past few months and I'm always shocked when driving on the highways there. A lot of the interchanges on I-376 seem to be of the same era as the original Mill Creek Expressway or Norwood Lateral. Narrow/no shoulders, left hand exits, ramps with extremely sharp turns (marked 15 MPH), etc. Due to the geography, it would be extremely expensive to upgrade the highway to modern standards. And somehow, the city still seems to function.

 

But somehow, Ohio found $4 billion to spend on I-75 between the Brent Spence Bridge, Mill Creek Expressway, and Thru the Valley projects.

 

Don't forget that ODOT builds 13-foot highway lanes even though USDOT only requires 12-foot lanes. It may not seem by a lot, but multiply 1 foot by the number of interstate highway lane-miles in the state of Ohio, and that's a lot of extra asphalt.

 

Simply put,  that is FALSE

That read that in something that Angie Schmitt from Streetsblog had written. Can't find it at the moment.

 

She's probably not the authority to trust.

 

Go to to here, page 28 of the PDF (Figure 301-2E) will show you the lane widths used by ODOT on the interstate system

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Engineering/Roadway/DesignStandards/roadway/Location%20and%20Design%20Manual/Section_300_7-19-2013.pdf

 

In the urban charts, in some instances an additional 1-2 ft is required for curb offsets in addition to lane width which sometimes can be inferred as 13' in some instances, but certainly does not predominate.

 

On the MLK interchange project, they are in fact using 11'-6" lanes on I-71 to save space

 

 

I have been working a lot in the Pittsburgh area the past few months and I'm always shocked when driving on the highways there. A lot of the interchanges on I-376 seem to be of the same era as the original Mill Creek Expressway or Norwood Lateral. Narrow/no shoulders, left hand exits, ramps with extremely sharp turns (marked 15 MPH), etc. Due to the geography, it would be extremely expensive to upgrade the highway to modern standards. And somehow, the city still seems to function. But somehow, Ohio found $4 billion to spend on I-75 between the Brent Spence Bridge, Mill Creek Expressway, and Thru the Valley projects.

 

 

And once you do these things, even if there's not as much need for them down the road, you're stuck with them since recreating the old terrain is just as expensive and doing anything that "reduces safety" leave you open to all kinds of lawsuits.

 

All salesmen know that the best way to sell somebody something is to scare them.

So the old concrete on Interstate 75 is being removed with equipment like this. Pretty awesome to watch up [move]close[/move]!

 

protip: Buy crushed up concrete rather than graven when suitable for your project. You'll get twice as much coverage for the same amount of tonnage and you won't be buying lots of water like you do when you get gravel.

[move]Today I Learned [ move ][/move]

Not sure why you posted that, but I'll humor it for a second.

[move]

                      (+++++++++++)

                  (++++)

              (+++)

            (+++)

            (++)

            [~]

            | | (~)  (~)  (~)    /~~~~~~~~~~~~

        /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  [~_~_] |    * * * /~~~~~~~~~~~|

      [|  %___________________          | |~~~~~~~~            |

        \[___] ___  ___  ___\  No. 4  | |  B. & O.                  |

      /// [___+/-+-\-/-+-\-/-+ \\_________|=|____________________|=

    //// @-=-@ \___/ \___/ \___/  @-==-@      @-==-@      @-==-@

[/move]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not sure why you posted that, but I'll humor it for a second.

[move]

                      (+++++++++++)

                  (++++)

              (+++)

            (+++)

            (++)

            [~]

            | | (~)  (~)  (~)    /~~~~~~~~~~~~

        /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  [~_~_] |    * * * /~~~~~~~~~~~|

      [|  %___________________          | |~~~~~~~~            |

        \[___] ___  ___  ___\  No. 4  | |  B. & O.                  |

      /// [___+/-+-\-/-+-\-/-+ \\_________|=|____________________|=

    //// @-=-@ \___/ \___/ \___/  @-==-@      @-==-@      @-==-@

[/move]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

hilarious and awesome!

Another phase of work on the Mill Creek Expressway project starts next week. Crews will be building a new rail overpass just south of the Norwood Lateral interchange. (via ODOT on Facebook)

^They have already started clearing the woods to either side.

All of the buildings are set for demolition very soon. They have all been vacated. The St. Bernard train depot is also set to be razed.

Northbound I-75 has now been moved over to the "new" Mitchell Avenue overpass. The "old" overpass will now be demolished and rebuilt. Here's the evolution so far...

 

April 30, 2013:

 

August 13, 2013:

 

December 29, 2013:

And here's the evolution of the new Clifton Avenue overpass...

 

April 30, 2013:

 

August 13, 2013:

 

December 29, 2013:

That electronic billboard is the stuff of legends.

Why isn't i-75 tolled with this upgrade, but they want to toll the bridge??? If they don't have money for that, then they don't have money for this upgrade.

April 30, 2013:

 

August 13, 2013:

 

December 29, 2013:

 

March 23, 2014:

 

 

In the last photo, you can start to see how massive the widened I-75 is going to be. All six lanes of traffic are currently using the southbound overpass at Hopple Street. Imagine it being double that width once the new northbound overpass is completed.

It just goes to show how overly generous interstate highway standards have gotten.  I noticed the same thing when they were redoing I-75 up in Butler County, where the entire existing highway capacity fit on just one side of the new cross-section.  Proportionately though, under the current standards an interstate with three lanes each way is the most wasteful, since it now require full right AND left shoulders.  That was previously required only where there were 4+ lanes each way, but I think they chanced it in the 1970s.  Anyway, that's fully 40% of the pavement not meant to be driven on. The new Jeremiah Morrow Bridge for I-71 is a monster for the same reasons.  Building the new bridge to carry three lanes each way instead of the current two (with just 4 or 5 foot shoulders) means that a 50% increase in capacity requires twice as much pavement.  Ouch. 

It just goes to show how overly generous interstate highway standards have gotten.  I noticed the same thing when they were redoing I-75 up in Butler County, where the entire existing highway capacity fit on just one side of the new cross-section.  Proportionately though, under the current standards an interstate with three lanes each way is the most wasteful, since it now require full right AND left shoulders.  That was previously required only where there were 4+ lanes each way, but I think they chanced it in the 1970s.  Anyway, that's fully 40% of the pavement not meant to be driven on. The new Jeremiah Morrow Bridge for I-71 is a monster for the same reasons.  Building the new bridge to carry three lanes each way instead of the current two (with just 4 or 5 foot shoulders) means that a 50% increase in capacity requires twice as much pavement.  Ouch. 

 

I always get freaked out driving over the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge though. It's a little bit scary to be driving 65 MPH over such a high bridge with only a 5 foot shoulder.

Do it on a tall motorcycle on a windy day!

600 people die every year on interstate highway emergency shoulders:

http://www.allenandallen.com/blog/the-shoulder-of-the-highway-is-a-dangerous-place.html

 

I drove the old elevated I-93 in downtown Boston and it was actually very safe because everyone drove so slowly.  There were no emergency shoulders and the road's curves hurt visibility so even in the middle of the night cars maxed at about 45mph.  On the antiquated interstate highways like that, there might be more accidents total, but fewer serious accidents because of the lesser severity of impacts.  By comparison, you sometimes have a "launching pad" situation during construction on rural interstates, where you have to stop at the end of the on-ramp, then gun it when there's a gap in traffic.  But in the middle of nowhere the prevailing speed is over 70mph. 

Dat's like those "interstates" in NYC that still have sidewalks on them in places and it's tough to hit 40.

Yeah, I seem to remember you're driving down something that looks like Chittenden Ave. but with concrete barriers keeping traffic from jumping the curb as you approach the Lincoln Tunnel on I-495.

The Holland Tunnel approach in Jersey is technically an interstate, but you're basically driving on a wide city street.

 

I really like the BQE. I lived close to it in Woodside, and while the BQE functions perfectly as a highway, its impact on the neighborhood is minimal. It has narrow lanes, no or minimal shoulders in most parts, and is sunk 20' or so below the street grid. The speed limit is lower, but everyone still manages to drive 70 or so when traffic is light. If only I-75 through the west end could have been built like this.

The best thing about interstates like that is that they are also prime candidates for caps for major overpasses. They're already set up perfectly for it (minus that additional structure necessary obviously) in terms of planning and their impact can then be lessened even more.