The total cost for the I-75 work between the Cut in the Hill and I-275 is about $4 billion. The fact that ODOT has split this work up into three projects—Brent Spence Bridge Replacement, Thru the Valley, and Mill Creek Expressway—is neither here nor there.

I think the work on I-75 while adding lanes, was very important to the region.  That area has already been sliced and diced and it will induce more demand, but that said, it needed to be done.  Where they are finished, it is a much nicer and smoother ride.  The main thing, it helps pull through traffic through the corridor easier which helps local traffic and will help the economy overall.  All that said, we would all agree here how a rail line along the corridor would be a huge boon to the local economy, more so than the road project.

 

I don't know what a rail corridor would cost here, I'm sure Jake or Travis could give a good estimate, but that would be huge to our region.

I do think the current I-75 work was needed, not necessarily because it adds a lane, but because it reconfigures the the highway to modern interstate standards and eliminates many of the outdated pre-interstate design features such as left side exits. The fact that a lane was added in the process didn't really add too much extra expense since the entire thing was being rebuilt anyway. I do think it's important to point out the hyprocracy, though. As our region continues to moan about any money spent on transit, we spend $4 billion on highways and no one even seems to notice.

 

I'm not sure what it would cost to build a MetroMoves style system today but I believe the cost 15 years ago was less that what we are now spending on I-75. Also, the cost of building rail will only increase over time as we continue to take corridors that could be easily used for rail and instead use them for other purposes. The I-75 widening takes away ROW that was once reserved for rail and makes any future rail plans more expensive and more complicated. We also decided to build a bike trail on Wasson Way and I don't think anyone in Oakley or Hyde Park will ever agree to have rail built on that corridor next to the trail.

The interstate highways are, by default, a fully grade separated network, and therefore fulfill the textbook definition of "rapid transit". The Metro Moves rail was not, which is why the entire network was going to cost less than simply adding one lane to I-75 for 20~ miles. 

 

The cost of 20 miles of fully grade separated rail transit paralleling I-75 from Covington, KY to West Chester would be massive, likely upwards of $10 billion. 

That is massive!  That said, I still think the most cost benefit would be to add the tunnell on Main Street and Walnut Street to Uptown, then add on Elevated tracks down Jefferson to MLK? towards the new developments there then either turn up Reading or run it to Walnut Hills / Evanston.

 

That would likely never happen but would be a tremendous boon to the area.  I think Jake you talked about something along the lines of this before.

Yeah and the shame is that I ran across several articles in my research on the subway where planners outlined a plan to extend the rapid transit line along the canal route well north of the city limits toward Carthage and then Arlington Heights and Lockland.  So if things had played out just a little differently, there would not have been space for I-75 to have been built along the path that it was. 

I was almost rear-ended in a major way this morning on the new ramp from Hopple to 75N.  There is a nasty yield where it merges with the old I-74 ramp before merging with I-75.  I am in the habit of completely stopping at this yield if there is a column of cars coming off of I-74.

 

Today I was completely stopped for probably 20-30 seconds and an old minivan came up behind me and didn't realize that I was completely stopped.  At the last minute he swerved to the right, kept going on the emergency shoulder, and then almost wrecked into one of the cars coming off I-74. 

 

The I-74 interchange rebuild is going to solve this problem, but I have already seen 2-3 nasty accidents at this point.  I'm sort of amazed that they permitted it, even though it is only temporary. 

I don't understand why so many people here seem to have an issue with the notion of "yield."  It's really not that hard. 

I was almost rear-ended in a major way this morning on the new ramp from Hopple to 75N.  There is a nasty yield where it merges with the old I-74 ramp before merging with I-75.  I am in the habit of completely stopping at this yield if there is a column of cars coming off of I-74.

 

Today I was completely stopped for probably 20-30 seconds and an old minivan came up behind me and didn't realize that I was completely stopped.  At the last minute he swerved to the right, kept going on the emergency shoulder, and then almost wrecked into one of the cars coming off I-74. 

 

The I-74 interchange rebuild is going to solve this problem, but I have already seen 2-3 nasty accidents at this point.  I'm sort of amazed that they permitted it, even though it is only temporary. 

 

Yeah, that does look like a nasty yield. (And this is coming from me, a Professional Traffic Engineer that previously was the MDSHA Traffic Team Leader for Montgomery County). A hard yield like this is a very unexpected condition on an interstate or interchange. I hope ODOT has double posted 48"x48" yield ahead signs prior to the yield. If not, I recommend you requesting them. (Sorry, I live in Brooklyn these days, haven't been a Cincinnati resident in 10 years. If I lived in Ohio, I would request for you.)

I was almost rear-ended in a major way this morning on the new ramp from Hopple to 75N.  There is a nasty yield where it merges with the old I-74 ramp before merging with I-75.  I am in the habit of completely stopping at this yield if there is a column of cars coming off of I-74.

 

Today I was completely stopped for probably 20-30 seconds and an old minivan came up behind me and didn't realize that I was completely stopped.  At the last minute he swerved to the right, kept going on the emergency shoulder, and then almost wrecked into one of the cars coming off I-74. 

 

The I-74 interchange rebuild is going to solve this problem, but I have already seen 2-3 nasty accidents at this point.  I'm sort of amazed that they permitted it, even though it is only temporary. 

 

Yeah, that does look like a nasty yield. (And this is coming from me, a Professional Traffic Engineer that previously was the MDSHA Traffic Team Leader for Montgomery County). A hard yield like this is a very unexpected condition on an interstate or interchange. I hope ODOT has double posted 48"x48" yield ahead signs prior to the yield. If not, I recommend you requesting them. (Sorry, I live in Brooklyn these days, haven't been a Cincinnati resident in 10 years. If I lived in Ohio, I would request for you.)

 

 

 

I'm betting that using this ramp as a shortcut from 75 BACK TO 75 to save a few minutes in a back up is probably not the most legal of maneuvers is it?

 

During spring break, a right turn only sign was installed and the no turn on red sign has been turned to face traffic coming from N I-75.  I would like to think someone important is reading this thread, but probably just coincidence.  Whatever the case, traffic flow has improved greatly even though MLK has been reduced to one lane.  Overhead signs were also installed, which I'm sure has helped as well.

 

Sometime last year, the no turn on red sign was turned back to face Hopple again.  No surprise that traffic gets very backed up in the 3:30-6:30 range again.  Traffic flow was actually much better when MLK was down to one lane during construction and the no turn on red was facing the I 75 ramp. 

I'm betting that using this ramp as a shortcut from 75 BACK TO 75 to save a few minutes in a back up is probably not the most legal of maneuvers is it?

 

Yes, while waiting to get on 75N from MLK I have seen cars race from the off-ramp directly across the bridge and onto the on-ramp.  After all of this construction and the tens of millions of dollars spent rebuilding Hopple St. I am amazed at how hectic and unpleasant the whole thing is. 

 

 

 

 

Bill calls for stretch of Interstate 75 to be renamed

 

A Cincinnati lawmaker is calling for a portion of Interstate 75 to be renamed.

 

Ohio Rep. Catherine Ingram, D-Cincinnati, on Monday introduced House Bill 690, legislation that would create the Hamilton County Veterans Memorial Highway along a stretch of Interstate 75 in Hamilton County.

 

“Hamilton County veterans and their families have made tremendous sacrifices in service to their country,” Ingram said in a statement. “We are indebted to our brave neighbors in uniform for their service, and we are proud to welcome them home here in Hamilton County. Our county, state and country are better off because of their service in uniform and their continued good works once they rejoin our communities.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/06/11/bill-calls-for-stretch-of-interstate-75-to-be.html

Surely naming I-75 the Hamilton County Veterans Memorial Highway and OH-129 the Butler County Veterans Highway won't cause any confusion...

It won't, because no one will call it the Hamilton County Veterans Memorial Highway.

I can't remember which highways in Columbus are Veterans'

I can't remember which highways in Columbus are Veterans'

 

Hasn't every road in the US been renamed for veterans or a dead police officer? 

I still call OH-129  The Micheal J. Fox Highway

I-75 New Ramp Meters to be Activated at Hopple St. and Mitchell Ave. Interchanges

 

Lebanon, OH (July 11, 2018) - Ohio Department of Transportation District 8 Deputy Director Tammy Campbell announced today that new ramp meters will be permanently activated along Interstate 75 during the morning rush hour on July 16.

 

“These traffic calming devices will help to improve the flow of traffic on mainline I-75,” said Campbell. “While the ramp meters help control congestion they more importantly help improve safety for motorists.”

 

More below:

https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/OHDOT-1fa10d2

According to the project website, work will begin this fall on the section of I-75 between the Monmouth Street overpass and Mitchell Avenue. This phase will also include the 75-to-74 (eastbound) interchange ramps, but not the 74-to-75 ramps, which will be part of the next phase.

According to the project website, work will begin this fall on the section of I-75 between the Monmouth Street overpass and Mitchell Avenue. This phase will also include the 75-to-74 (eastbound) interchange ramps, but not the 74-to-75 ramps, which will be part of the next phase.

 

Crazy.  As I have already noted, the temporary merge from Hopple to 75N is very dangerous.  Hopefully this gets modified in some fashion as part of this project, even if the circa-1972 ramp from I-74 is not rebuilt. 

 

According to the project website, work will begin this fall on the section of I-75 between the Monmouth Street overpass and Mitchell Avenue. This phase will also include the 75-to-74 (eastbound) interchange ramps, but not the 74-to-75 ramps, which will be part of the next phase.

 

Crazy.  As I have already noted, the temporary merge from Hopple to 75N is very dangerous.  Hopefully this gets modified in some fashion as part of this project, even if the circa-1972 ramp from I-74 is not rebuilt. 

 

 

I've taken that ramp exactly once. I now go down to Bank Street and get on 75N there because it's such a disaster waiting to happen.

 

I'm sure on paper it looked okay because the merge point is exactly the same spot it was when the onramp from Central Parkway was there, but the ramp from Hopple is so incredibly long that by the time people get to the merge point they're already on autopilot and going 55MPH when cars from 74 merge from their blind spot.

According to the project website, work will begin this fall on the section of I-75 between the Monmouth Street overpass and Mitchell Avenue. This phase will also include the 75-to-74 (eastbound) interchange ramps, but not the 74-to-75 ramps, which will be part of the next phase.

 

Crazy.  As I have already noted, the temporary merge from Hopple to 75N is very dangerous.  Hopefully this gets modified in some fashion as part of this project, even if the circa-1972 ramp from I-74 is not rebuilt.

yes, that ramp merge is temporary and will be removed and relocated as a direct merge to I-75 NB  -- under the ramp from I-74 to I-75 NB -- per standard design.

 

 

Did they drop the ball on them meters again? One is not even on and another still has signs(This one is working) covered.

Reconstruction of I-74 from Beekman St. to I-75 is well underway.  The lane configuration of the inbound direction is terrifying.  It's pretty much the worst thing I've ever seen.  Has to be seen to be believed.  

 

 

Yea, It's pretty bad!

They have finally taken down the old school I-75 Mill Creek Expressway website that's been online since probably the early 2000s. Information about the project is now housed on this page of ODOT District 8's website.

1 hour ago, jmecklenborg said:

Reconstruction of I-74 from Beekman St. to I-75 is well underway.  The lane configuration of the inbound direction is terrifying.  It's pretty much the worst thing I've ever seen.  Has to be seen to be believed. 

 

Elaborate please.

Wouldn't it be great if ODOT went crazy and re-signed everything with the 75 shield + "Mill Creek Expressway" moniker in the same way great Chicago does with their freeways? I've always liked hearing traffic reports us the names of freeways instead of 71, 75, 275 etc. Like Louisville...nobody says 264. It's "the Watterson".

6 minutes ago, Rabbit Hash said:

Wouldn't it be great if ODOT went crazy and re-signed everything with the 75 shield + "Mill Creek Expressway" moniker in the same way great Chicago does with their freeways? I've always liked hearing traffic reports us the names of freeways instead of 71, 75, 275 etc. Like Louisville...nobody says 264. It's "the Watterson".

 

That can get super confusing, though. I dislike all the honorific names given to freeways in LA because I have a hard time keeping track of what is what. You have the Harbor freeway (110), Golden State (5), Santa Monica (10), Arroyo Seco (110, again), Hollywood (101), Ventura (101 and 134)... just too confusing!

 

You mean: THE Harbor Freeway, THE Hollywood, THE Ventura, THE 105. California is unique in prefixing their freeway names and certain route numbers with "The."

 

If freeway names are suffixed to shields, it should be plain text adjacent to a shield like how Illinois does. Other states try to squish all of the text into a shield until it becomes unreadable.

45 minutes ago, jjakucyk said:

 

Elaborate please.

 

Go out to Montana and turn around.  

 

Right at the Beekman off-ramp they make the two travel lanes split into a pair of 1-lane routes, with one of them on the outbound side of I-74.  Then they rejoin right before the I-75 interchange so that traffic that enters at Colerain/Beekman can theoretically cross the merging thru-lanes to get on I-75N.  Not sure why maintaining access to I-75N was any sort of priority for Colerain Ave. traffic.  

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Rabbit Hash said:

Wouldn't it be great if ODOT went crazy and re-signed everything with the 75 shield + "Mill Creek Expressway" moniker in the same way great Chicago does with their freeways? I've always liked hearing traffic reports us the names of freeways instead of 71, 75, 275 etc. Like Louisville...nobody says 264. It's "the Watterson".

 

If they did that in Ohio, you'd have reports like "There is an accident at the Freedom Veterans Crossroads holding up traffic between the Veterans Memorial Highway and the Vietnam Veterans Highway south of Sgt James T Johnson Memorial Freeway" and no one would know where the hell the accident was. 

1 hour ago, edale said:

 

That can get super confusing, though. I dislike all the honorific names given to freeways in LA because I have a hard time keeping track of what is what. You have the Harbor freeway (110), Golden State (5), Santa Monica (10), Arroyo Seco (110, again), Hollywood (101), Ventura (101 and 134)... just too confusing!

 

 

It makes sense if you ignore the route numbers completely and look at each "ribbon of road" as an individual freeway, regardless of how the route number twists and turns through interchanges. The only major exception is at the Four-Level interchange, where four different freeways (Hollywood, Harbor, Santa Ana and Arroyo Seco) all come together. Of course, the reason for the "honorific names" is because most of LA's freeways came about before the Interstate numbering system. Detroit's network is the same way, in that, for example, the Fisher Freeway carries I-75 until the interchange with Gratiot Avenue, at which point I-75 continues along the Chrysler Freeway (which technically starts as I-375 downtown).

Edited May 6, 20196 yr by BigDipper 80

Quote

  3 hours ago, Rabbit Hash said:

Wouldn't it be great if ODOT went crazy and re-signed everything with the 75 shield + "Mill Creek Expressway" moniker in the same way great Chicago does with their freeways? I've always liked hearing traffic reports us the names of freeways instead of 71, 75, 275 etc. Like Louisville...nobody says 264. It's "the Watterson".

 

If they did that in Ohio, you'd have reports like "There is an accident at the Freedom Veterans Crossroads holding up traffic between the Veterans Memorial Highway and the Vietnam Veterans Highway south of Sgt James T Johnson Memorial Freeway" and no one would know where the hell the accident was. 

 

The only local example that comes to mind is the "Norwood Lateral".

^There's Reagan too. And the Jennings Freeway in Cleveland. And the Turnpike, I guess. But no one knows about the Mill Creek or Duck Creek Expressways, or the Medina or Willow Freeways.

Ahem: Ft. Washington Way, although I don't think any signage survived the rebuild.  I went down there in 1999 or 2000 and tried to steal an old "Ft. Washington Way" sign that was sitting next to construction equipment but it was too big.  One of my friends did steal one of the Pete Rose Way exit signs and still has it in his basement.  

1 hour ago, BigDipper 80 said:

 

It makes sense if you ignore the route numbers completely and look at each "ribbon of road" as an individual freeway, regardless of how the route number twists and turns through interchanges. The only major exception is at the Four-Level interchange, where four different freeways (Hollywood, Harbor, Santa Ana and Arroyo Seco) all come together. 

 

Yeah, but where does the 'ribbon of road' start and stop?  I don't even know the 4 level interchange you're talking about because of the names you're using! The 110 is called the Harbor Freeway because it goes down to Long Beach and the Harbor. The Arroyo Seco is actually a parkway, and is one of the first expressways in the country, but it's also designated as the 110 because it's basically a continuation of it north of DTLA. The Santa Ana (I-5) is also called the Golden State freeway. It makes sense to call the 101 the Hollywood Freeway between downtown and Hollywood, but after it crosses the mountains and enters the valley and beyond, it doesn't seem tethered or connected to Hollywood at all. Same with the 405 being called the San Diego Freeway. Where does one segment begin and end? I think it's all very confusing unless the entire freeway is named and referred to by that name. In Cincinnati, the Norwood Lateral and Cross County/Ronald Reagan make sense.

^Well Ft. Washington Way doesn't "make sense" since the fort was torn down 200 years ago.  Fun Fact: the City of Cincinnati still owns that highway, despite it being signed as I-71 since about 1970.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, edale said:

 

Yeah, but where does the 'ribbon of road' start and stop?  I don't even know the 4 level interchange you're talking about because of the names you're using! The 110 is called the Harbor Freeway because it goes down to Long Beach and the Harbor. The Arroyo Seco is actually a parkway, and is one of the first expressways in the country, but it's also designated as the 110 because it's basically a continuation of it north of DTLA. The Santa Ana (I-5) is also called the Golden State freeway. It makes sense to call the 101 the Hollywood Freeway between downtown and Hollywood, but after it crosses the mountains and enters the valley and beyond, it doesn't seem tethered or connected to Hollywood at all. Same with the 405 being called the San Diego Freeway. Where does one segment begin and end? I think it's all very confusing unless the entire freeway is named and referred to by that name. In Cincinnati, the Norwood Lateral and Cross County/Ronald Reagan make sense.

This map might help... I colored the roads based on their "name" (rather than their alternating route numbers) to make them a little more clear. Red is the Golden State, green is the Santa Ana, orange is the Harbor, purple is the Arroyo, blue is the Hollywood, grey is the Ventura, black is the Santa Monica, and dark grey is the San Bernadino. The big pink dot is the Four Level interchange downtown, where the original LA freeways met. There's also some name-changing that happens at the big 101-5-10 interchange on the east side of downtown. So for the most part, the freeways are named for where they're headed as you drive away from downtown, but you have some cases like the Hollywood that carries that name past its destination all the way to the 5 because it wouldn't have made much sense to name the chunk of road in the Valley (which was added in the late 60s) something different when it was constructed pre-route numbers, since it's all one freeway. 

 

Edited May 6, 20196 yr by BigDipper 80

^You forgot The Century Freeway, which is the 105 and has the green line light rail in the middle.  This is the freeway that tore down the childhood home of the Beach Boys.  

 

Houston has the "Gulf Freeway", through Pasadena (TX) to Galveston.

https://www.chron.com/news/transportation/article/Houston-Gulf-Freeway-turns-65-11723798.php

 

Here is a link to the really sad little memorial built in place of the demolished Beach Boys home:

http://www.californiacuriosities.com/the-beach-boys-monument/

On 5/6/2019 at 1:51 PM, jjakucyk said:

 

Elaborate please.

 

Sure enough, my second time driving in this direction I saw a wreck.  Sunday, May 19 at approx 5pm:

 

 

 

Next phase of major I-75 work among local projects funded by state

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation has approved nearly $400 million in major projects, including $76 million in road projects in Southwest Ohio.

 

The state plans to spend $38 million reconstructing and widening a stretch of Interstate 75 from Glendale Milford Road to the Kemper Road overpass from three to four lanes. It's part of a $1.2 billion, decades-long I-75 reconstruction and widening project.

 

If funded, ODOT estimates that the Glendale Milford Road-to-Kemper-Road phase will begin in the spring of 2022 and be complete in the fall of 2023. It’s a part of the $600 million “thru the valley” segments run from Seymour Avenue to Interstate 275.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/10/14/next-phase-of-major-i-75-work-among-local-projects.html

12 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

It's part of a $1.2 billion, decades-long I-75 reconstruction and widening project.

 

If you also include the Brent Spence Bridge project, which will probably be in the neighborhood of $4 billion by the time we actually build it, that's a grand total of about $5.3 billion spent on I-75 between the Cut in the Hill and I-275.

ODOT approves tens of millions of dollars for Cincinnati projects

 

The state of Ohio has given its final OK to $76 million in new road spending in Greater Cincinnati, including another phase of widening Interstate 75.

 

The state will spend $38 million reconstructing and widening a stretch of I-75 from Glendale Milford Road to the Kemper Road overpass from three to four lanes. Overall, Ohio plans to spend $1.2 billion over several decades widening and reconstructing I-75.

 

ODOT previously estimated that the Glendale Milford Road-to-Kemper Road phase will start in the spring of 2022 and be finished in the fall of 2023. That section is a part of a $600 million “thru the valley” segment that runs from Seymour Avenue to I-275.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/11/07/odot-approves-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-for.html

Anyone wanna form a COAST-like group that opposes highway spending instead?

If the Eastern By-Pass (or any ring road proposal) gains serious traction, I will absolutely get COAST-levels of involved in trying to stop it.

11 minutes ago, 10albersa said:

If the Eastern By-Pass (or any ring road proposal) gains serious traction, I will absolutely get COAST-levels of involved in trying to stop it.

 

Thankfully the Eastern By-Pass's biggest proponent just lost his election. Unfortunately, I know several local NKY officials are still on-board with the idea.

I just ran across this pre-2010 graphic saved on my computer.  The interchange is being rebuilt as we speak largely as shown here, but without the elevated light rail wye leftover from the 2002 Metromoves plan.  But what's more interesting is the absence of the I-74E ramp to Central Parkway (shown in yellow).  Given the minor controversy surrounding the "Castellini" viaduct that would have connected Central Parkway with South Cumminsville, I have to wonder aloud if the yellow ramp was eliminated from the plans with the hope that funds could have been shifted to it.  If that is the case, then the $40+ million bridge is absolutely still on the books and we have to wonder if the SORTA infrastructure tax aims to fund its construction since TIGER did not.