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According to a Dispatch article this morning, ODOT has approved plans to divide the 70/71 Split project into two parts. The first being the eastern leg of 71 through Downtown running between I-670 and I-70, with a $512 million price tag. The second leg is the actual split running through the south end of Downtown where interstates 70 and 71 overlap. This second portion has been downgraded to a Tier II Funding Request, which means that the funding from ODOT has not been approved as of yet, and this part of project is not actually guaranteed to happen anymore.
The eastern portion of I-71 is home to the majority of the crash problems, and the article makes it sound as if ODOT is fully dedicated to fixing the neighborhood connectivity issues by committing $10 million towards building caps, potentially on the Spring, Long, and Broad Streets bridges. MORPC has also previously pledged an additional $12 million for highway caps. The full Dispatch article can be read here.
More information on the project can be found on the official ODOT project website.
“How does it serve me?” “What a waste of money!” ”Financially, it isn’t self sufficient.”
Ha! For a second I thought you were serious. I wish there was a font for sarcasm.
I think it would be better to have a cap at Town/Bryden rather than Spring, but overall, I’m pretty pleased that caps are in the plan.
Good, maybe they can use the other half of the money to put in a streetcar or light rail line……You’re right coolbuckeye, there should be font for sarcasm. Btw, I was being sarcastic.
Selfishly, I’m happy for a cap at Spring since I live withing spitting distance, but I agree that caps at Town, Oak, and Main would all be just as beneficial as Spring, Long, and Broad.
Now we can build the streetcar south of I70 on high street :-)
As I agree that the project should be broken down into two parts and that the caps are still be planned for the first project. I disagree with the other part being a tier 2. The project has already spent millions in the planning stage and to see this project only being half done will be a waste. Caps on the southside of Downtown connecting GV should be a high priority and with I-70 being a major artery, these caps could be a grand east/west gateway into downtown.
IMO, back to my first statement, with the second stage in question the streetcar will never be built.
Also, wouldn’t the tier II part cost that much more with each passing year? I think the time is now to complete the entire project and cap it all. Ask for federal funding like the big dig got for their project.
The whole tier 2 thing also makes me pretty skeptical that the southern portion will happen (given the looming budget problems that I have heard ODOT will face in upcoming years). I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I agree CbusIslander….everytime I hear someone explain to me why the southside gets cut out of light rail and streetcar plans, the split is the excuse given…well no excuses now
How much does this cost per mile? :)
I want to lobby to change this thread title to the cost of the project. ;-)
ODOT is so dedicated to neighborhood connectivity that not only did they sever all of Downtown from OTE including the birthplace of James Thurber, but came back decades later to tear down more of what little is left of Parsons Ave by demolishing two more businesses. Oh well, like I was told by ODOT there would be *gasp* traffic if they don’t tear down Carabar and PT Paul. The horror!!!
the meetings that i sat in on earlier in the year explained that if the 1st phase was successful that phase 2 might not be needed. we were told that franklinton wouldnt be carved up for at least 10 to 15 years if at all.
What does this mean for Mound and Fulton? Are they going to be left alone for now?
Columbusite – While I was one of the protestors over the loss of the buildings that house ET Paul and Carabar, ODOT has really worked with OTE to mitigate the loss of these buildings. While I regret losing the buildings, the design of the new bridges and caps will reconnect the downtown to the near east side neighborhoods.
Knowing OTE’s recent discussions on how to mitigate issues, I think the potential solutions with Parsons Avenue could make that quadrant far more desirable in the long run. Splitting the project at least gets the log-jam moving….the previous scope would have been hard to find the funding for in the near term with revenue sources so much less.
Here’s a simple idea…
Cap the whole highway and make it into a park that wraps around downtown Columbus. Use the edges of the park for high-dollar development (new townhouses, retail, mixed use). Call it the Big Bury, instead of the Big Dig. Put Columbus on the map. Give the community an asset instead of an eyesore.
A great multi-video presentation about highway upgrade issues going on in Portland right now. Not too hard to imagine how these alternative and options can apply to Columbus and the 70/71 upgrades:
http://vzzy.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/crc-presentation-videos/
columbusmike Says: Here’s a simple idea… Cap the whole highway and make it into a park that wraps around downtown Columbus.
This idea was talked about a little bit during the Podcast with David Meleca, the architect who contributed a lot to the I-670 cap project.
From what I recall in talking to him it sounds like that’s a much more complicated and expensive solution, and it’s also why the 670 cap is actually broken apart into multiple pieces with a “hole” in between the High St cap and the Park St cap. I guess once you exceed a certain number of feet and go from what’s classified as a “bridge” or “cap” to what is classified as a “tunnel” you’re required to impliment a lot of expensive additional features such as exit stairwells ever X number of feet, some hardcore fire suppression systems, and several other systems that I’m forgetting off the top of my head.
I agree with you that it would be very cool to just turn the whole thing into an underground tunnel highway and reclaim all of that land… but it sounds like it would be at least four times as expensive. And if we’re going to spend that much, I think I’d rather see some light rail in the mix somewhere. ;)
What a mess! Countless projects have now been put on indefinite hold as a result of this equivocating.
Brewery District, German Village, River South, Downtown South are all prohibited from doing anything in the adjoining areas – possibly forever! Streetcars to the South Side – Forget it! As I said – What a mess!
I would just be curious if the additional costs of cap-ing the entire highway around downtown could be recouped in opening up prime land for development along parkland. Yes, there are all sorts of requirements for egress stairs, ventilation, fire suppression, etc, but open land around downtown (especially on a park) could defray those costs. Plus, if we were smart about it, the park could connect with the Scioto Mile and basically form an uninterupted loop around downtown, much like the loop in Chicago.
The parkland idea is great in theory until you look at the costs. If the land is created for several millions of dollars an acre, and knowing that significant trees can not be planted on top of it, that is quite an expensive lawn, when those tens of millions of dollars could be used much more effectively on making other areas much more desirable and at landcosts that a development could afford to absorb.