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Yesterday ODOT announced that they’ve made a decision on their plans for the controversial Downtown I-70/I-71 split fix project. There’s really no new surprises here… just a few decisions made over the several options previously being considered. Essentially… they’ve decided to go with the Mound/Fulton feeder alignment running east-west despite running through the front yards of Miranova and Waterford Tower. Similarly, a Lester/Parsons feeder will run north-south in a fashion that will spell the end of a few Parsons Avenue businesses.
On the bright side, several highway caps, bike paths, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks are also planned but will require some amount of local funding to develop.
The total cost of the project has jumped up again to a whopping $1.6 Billion. Construction is expected to start in 2011 and be completed by 2017. ODOT is holding a public hearing on the project on Tuesday, February 10th. Read on for details.
PUBLIC HEARING – I-70/71 — SOUTH INNERBELT – COLUMBUS, OHIO
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 – 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission – Meeting Room
111 Liberty Street, Columbus, OhioThe public is invited to attend a public hearing concerning the highway improvements being considered for I-70/71, the Columbus South Innerbelt. The purpose of these improvements is to address congestion and improve safety on I-71 and the I-70/71 overlap in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
The purpose of this hearing is to provide an opportunity for review and comment on the project’s Environmental Assessment and for citizens to provide feedback either through written or recorded verbal comments. The Preferred Alternative as identified by ODOT and the Federal Highway Administration will be outlined. The hearing will be conducted in an open-house format and will allow time for review of highway plans and the tentative schedule for right-of-way acquisition and construction. A brief presentation will be given at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Written comments may be completed at the hearing or submitted by mail before February 24, 2009.
The Environmental Assessment will also be available online at www.7071study.org and at the following locations:
- ODOT District 6 – 400 E. William Street – Delaware
- ODOT Central Office – 1980 West Broad Street – Columbus
- Columbus Library Main Branch – 96 South Grant Avenue – Columbus
- Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission – 111 Liberty Street – Columbus
- Dodge Park Recreation Center – 667 Sullivant Avenue – ColumbusPlease send comments or questions to:
Mr. Ferzan Ahmed, Project Manager
ODOT District 6
400 E. William Street
Delaware, Ohio 43015
Phone: 740-833-8367
Fax: 614-887-4605
ferzan.ahmed@dot.state.oh.us
More information on the project can be found online here.
Propose a rail or transit project and the critics (such as the Buckeye Policy Institute) will gasp for air ranting about the cost. But $1.6 Billion for the 70-71 Split and the silence from the critics (hypocrites) is deafening.
$1.6-billion would likely build light rail in Columbus, a streetcar line in Cincy, passenger rail in the 3-C Corridor and money leftover to begin work on the Ohio Hub high speed rail plan. Slightly more bang for the buck.
MORPC has our light rail cost at $900 million. But yeah, it is frustrating. I’ve been going back and forth on the nbc comment section with people about that. To them spending 1 billion and subsidizing a freeway is good, but subsidizing a rail project is bad. All based on the assertion that more people NOW drive, without looking at the larger picture that continue to build out the freeways won’t work much longer.
We need the split to be fixed, I just hope we see work done to keep up with traffic demands and offer real alternatives. Hopefully we won’t pass on a leaky dam to the next generation to throw some Spackle on.
(And just so I’m not getting angry emails for the rest of the week: no I am not anti-car, yes the split needs to be fixed. I merely would like to see smarter growth over the next few decades that doesn’t put us in a situation of constantly trying to fix past issues that we didn’t do right the first time.)
If the state encourages use of I-670 instead of I-70, as Khanra is suggesting, they will have to improve access to I-71. In particular, the ramp from I-670 eastbound to I-71 northbound becomes dangerously backed up during rush hours.
If Mound, Fulton, Parsons, and Lester are going to be the new “feeders” for the highways, I think the city should be making plans to “undo” their old feeders to go along with this new alignment.
The new configuration of the split really makes the one-way highway feeders of Third, Fourth, Spring, and Long defunct. All four of those streets should be converted back to two-way pedestrian-friendly streets as they will no longer be required to handle the highway traffic volume that they currently do.
Also… this dispatch article mentions that the feeders are limited to 25 mph, which is very good news to hear.
One item brought up in today’s article that I believe is key, we should maximize the caps to better connect to the east and south. The “park” caps would be a great way to show the closest neighbors the success this project could bring. A bond issue within the next year or so should be placed on the ballot just for caps. I wonder if any federal money could be tapped in the future for this project?
“Also… this dispatch article mentions that the feeders are limited to 25 mph, which is very good news to hear.”
That seems to conflict with the information in the EA report. See section 1.1.3.
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/7071study/Documents/77369_EA_DOC_V3.pdf
Wouldnt a 25 mph speed limit combined with traffic lights at every block, and few exit ramps, just lead to huge traffic jams?
Not if the lights are synched. These highway feeders are going to be one-way streets.
I was thinking about this as I was out running yesterday and I have one MAJOR concern. With 2 condo towers and the new Lifestyle community, this area (if I looked at the map correctly) will be one of the most densely populated in the city, not to mention the grand Scioto Mile plans. Currently I feel like the area around Miranova isnt very pedestrian friendly and with this change, I see it only getting worse. If we want people to really utilize the park and have pedestrian friendly retail grow, I don’t see how we can have cars buzzing by. Now I’ve not seen the full plans, but as far as the ‘feeders’ go, they better think about pedestrians first and cars second.
Haven’t you seen the comments around town? The masses want freeways.
I hope they are considering working some of their initial bus on the freeway ideas into this. Having a BRT line with it’s own lane along 70 and 71 would be great.
As Walker or someone pointed out, if anything we gain 3rd and 4th and Long and Spring. There is a lot of potential if those lose feeder status to implement better busing and pedestrian/bike friendly improvements.
I think to expect 3rd and 4th to be reconverted to two ways is unfortunately unrealistic.
Keep in mind they still will be the only feeders for 670 and they will also still likely serve the majority of downtown workers who wish to go I-70 for the Square area. Those workers have to get to and from Mound and Fulton somehow. In light of that I don’t see how it’s possible for them to converted back. Perhaps I’m wrong about this.John Wirtz is better qualified han I to speculate on this I’m sure.
Maybe Long and Spring can be reclaimed (which could be very good for continuing what’s been happening at Gay) but as it stands now we look to be adding feeders not subtracting any.
Mound & Fulton are going to directly negatively impact a high % of downtown residents. (Miranova, Waterford, Americana, Renaissance, Market Mohawk, Commonsat Grant etc) It’s very unfortunate. While I understand why ODOT picked the route they did, I fail to see how even Caps over the freeways are going to mitigate this much (ODOT noise study said it’s going to raise decibel levels in southern downton by about 6-10 if I remember correctly). What’s the point in building a pedestrian walkway over I-70 to German Village if you are just going to make people cross two extremely congested 35 mph one way feeder streets when they do get to downtown? I don’t see that being especially inviting to pedestrians. I hope they have a whopper of calming measure in place for the intersections of third and mound and fulton where I imagine traffic will really back up during rush hour.
I’m all for more pedestrian access, but the price to my neighborhood seems awfully high. Frankly it’s pretty disheartening.
I am glad to see they will halt construction for the bicentnnial though.
And yet people still cling to the notion that current auto-centric policies are actually good things. (Said, again, in the spirit that the split needs to be done and for the foreseeable future we need to make sure what we do have serves our community). Despite the overall greater good, it’s sad to see the impact this is going to have on businesses, residents and others who have worked so hard to take the reins downtown and keep it alive and slowly re-flourishing. I wonder how the eastern neighborhoods like OTE and King Lincoln will weather this, considering the impact the last round of freeway construction had.
It’s probably unrealistic to expect anything significant on 3rd and 4th, though I think there is a lot of untapped potential with bus only lanes to at least narrow the road out and provide quicker service in and out of downtown.
While Third and Fourth will continue to be feeders to the much-less-busy 670, there’s no reason at all they need to be maintained in their current state on the south end of downtown after all of this. They will be feeders to the feeders, and do not need to be one-way expressways.
Pardon my ignorance here, since I am not a traffic engineer, but why do so many people think this is such a great and necessary idea? Could the original design of the ‘split’ have been better? Sure, but umm..wasn’t it a great idea at the time ? And how do the other 500,000 or however many people navigate this area with no problem every day? Do we really need a “long term solution” just to appease a few people who need remedial driving lessons? The same people who are oh so scared of driving the split will also cause accidents no matter how safe freeways are designed. So let’s see who wins in this scenario. Pedestrians? Nope, like always, left out in the cold (literally and figuratively). Try crossing a “feeder” of zooming cars to walk northbound in southern downtown! Drivers? Nope. So instead of uninterrupted access from 71 to 70 or vice versa, now I have to actually get dumped onto a surface street with traffic lights to continue my journey? How is this traffic alleviation? Taxpayers?HAHA. Well, they don’t seem to mind this billion dollar Big Dig of Columbus, but yell and scream at something a tenth the cost but includes the words “public transportation” in it. Neighborhoods? Oh yeah, multilane freeway construction has been great to areas that are bulldozed! Fact is, nobody wins in these expensive, narrow minded projects. Some do work out (I-670 comes to mind), but really, a large percentage of the problems people complain about on the split could be solved for a lot less money: take public transportation, and when you are driving, pay attention to THE ROAD, NOT your phone, iPod, or french fries!
The fact is, in 20-30 years, this grand “long term plan” will, like the split, become outdated and people will moan and complain about how unsafe! How heavy the traffic! The only true long term transit plan, which has high upfront cost, but much lower in the longrun, doesn’t involve more cars and more freeways. It involves RAIL! When is the last time you heard of a light rail line being reconfigured to the extent freeways are? When is the last time you needed to spend millions on widening a rail right-of-way (idea makes me laugh a bit!)?
From here.
Deputy Director Tom Wester said he understands the public’s sticker shock on the massive $1.6 billion plan, but added that you can’t put a price tag on safety and people’s lives.
The hope is that the construction and plans will also lead to an increase in business, not only for the project but also when construction is complete and businesses move in to take advantage of more cars.
The City of Columbus has worked with ODOT throughout the planning process.
There were specifics that the city wanted done, including capping bridge work, more green spaces and economic viability potential.
It is still unclear how much city money will be used to build up the areas being redeveloped, but those discussions will take place as the 2011 start date approaches.
ODOT asked for your opinions on the project.
Voice your thoughts at a public hearing until 7 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will be held at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission at 111 Liberty St. in Columbus.
“The hope is that the construction and plans will also lead to an increase in business, not only for the project but also when construction is complete and businesses move in to take advantage of more cars.”
I need to bookmark this for every person I hear say rail can’t stimulate development. If one can argue roads and more cars can bring businesses then you can make the same argument for any infrastructure project.
I assume the businesses to which they are referring are parking lots and garages.
Oh, BTW, it’s standard practice in transportation economics to put a value on human life. I’m surprised a Deputy Director wouldn’t know that.