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The Columbus Dispatch wrote
Six I-70/71 caps still on city’s wish list
Thursday, July 19, 2007
By Tim Doulin
The city has identified six preferred locations to build caps over the I-70/71 freeway Downtown, but finding the money to build them remains an issue.
Spring, Long and Broad streets are favored sites for caps on the eastern leg of the project, and 3rd, High and Front streets on the southern leg.
It would cost an estimated $53 million to $65 million to build the six caps, which essentially are widened overpasses. They could include trees, even buildings. The more grand, the more expensive.
ODOT has the final say on the location and design, Kelsey said.
City and state officials and others think the caps will better connect nearby neighborhoods, such as the Near East Side, German Village and the Brewery District, with Downtown.
Comments
- cheap: i highly recommend the Millersport sweet corn festival of course,the cor
- Jimmy Mak: Thanks for the write-up! Just to clarify - this is the third year we've do
- Briana Henry: Well, eventually they plan to add more bands from the region...gotta start
- bucki12: I like the business model, but the internet sales part seems like something
- racheltb: I don't see the Ohio Shrimp Fest on the list. It is truly a good time. h
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Six I-70/71 caps still on city’s wish list
By: Walker
Related Posts:
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ODOT’s rationale from what I understand is that besides expense this option didn’t perform as well in terms of safety and “community” needs.
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/7071study/AugEval+Rec.asp
I imagine they are also concerned what construction/logistical problems and cost overruns they could encounter similar to Boston’s “Big Dig”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig_%28Boston%2C_Massachusetts%29
It’s really too bad imo, I really think from the City’s economic perspective a tunnel would be very beneficial. : :(
i drive thru olde towne east all the time and i strongly believe that this neighborhood could be as good and someday will be as good as victorian village or italian village. there is so much infill opportunity for redevelopment, it’s not even funny. the architecture is amazing. i don’t see rundown boarded up homes as much as i see $$$$$. lot’s of potential.
anyways, i digress, caps or no caps, the city and the people need to jumpstart the revitalization of OTE just like german village did years ago. don’t get me wrong, i still think the caps should be built over there, but the southern ones should take priority.
speaking of riversouth, when the hell are they going to start this thing or even announce something. i heard about the apartments that were being built, but i heard very little and have not seen any renderings. give me something.
i agree that OTE has a ton of potential. i think it could turn into one of the best “it” places to be in the near future, but that implies continued inflow of money and that will also push out a lot of the people currently inhabitiing that area. to say GV is not diverse because it became a wealthier neighborhood is to deny the future of areas like OTE.
on the cap issue though, i think something outside of front, high, 3rd would be a huge positive. i would love to see what would happen with main, or even grant or parsons; however, these would not currently be good candidates for retail caps. they just won’t get the traffic or interest right now. as a runner however, i would just like to be able to travel on foot across the great divide with some relief from the din of traffic below. just give me a park cap.
just found this
I think those renderings are a little old. The new-ish renderings can be found on ODOT’s project page… http://www.dot.state.oh.us/7071study/
They should just remove the freeways completely. No one will use them in 7 years.
As much as I would like to see caps on the East Side, I would rather them not be park caps. The city doesn’t need more parks to not maintain/do a crappy job of maintaining. Either caps with buildings like the short north or wait until there is enough funding to put in a real cap.
On a bit of a tangent, but I like that other people think that OTE and places like Mount Vernon are scary and don’t want to go there. I would rather not have OTE become like any of the Villages. I would rather see it become something with more diversity. Unfortunately, even in Olde Towne, diversity means More People Like Me.
I am opposed to more people like you, Motorist.
OTE was greatly impacted by 71 and 70 in the 1960′s. My dad told me that the route was decided by Lazarus since they owned much of the property in the area and wanted to seel it off easy to the feds. ??
My great-grandfather’s grocery, Rosati’s, store once stood at Parson’s and Main in OTE. But it was removed for motorists like motorist.
OTE has a bunch of potential.
I do not find GV suburban. Motorist defines suburban demographically while I (I actually have a degree in Urban Geography) define suburban as a form and function. GV is the most attractive place in C-Bus but very boring. I rarely go there because it does not cater to me and I frankly know no one personally who lives there.
It has ZERO nightlife. The sidewalks are always empty while the streets and garages are filled with white Lexuses and Black BMW’s.
GV is a great place to show visitors with it’s Disney quality production, but not a place to hang out in like IV.
You know me. 8)
Sure, it’s much quieter than the Short North, but there’s quite a few places to drink late at night. Some of them more expensive (Lindey’s) and others cheaper (Olde Mohawk). With the new MoJoe Lounge going in, there’s one more cheap spot to drink coming soon. Or hell, if drinking isn’t your thing, the BookLoft is open until 11pm every night.
I see a lot of people out walking around all day and night. Lots of dog walkers. Some tourists. Plenty of residents, especially right after work around 6pm.
And sure… it’s an expensive place to live, so you’ll see a lot of fancy-pants cars, but there’s quite a few affordable apartments around, so there’s a lot of honda civics mixed in with those lexuses. It’s a lot more diverse than people are usually willing to give it credit for.
It has ZERO nightlife. The sidewalks are always empty while the streets and garages are filled with white Lexuses and Black BMW’s.
GV is a great place to show visitors with it’s Disney quality production, but not a place to hang out in like IV.
ZERO nightlife? Club 185, Lotus, Round Bar, High Beck, Major Woody’s, Tommy Keegan’s, Tremont…seems like they have a bar for everyone.
The only bars in Italian Village are the ones that I would go to if I wanted to get shot!
Yeah…not sure about that “nobody is on the sidewalks” statement either. I can’t walk my dog to Schiller without passing at least 20 people.
Not to digress, but the food at Creole Kitchen really is worth going across the freeway and north of Long for. While I agree that I would love for it to be on Parsons or Long, I think it is good for people to go out of their comfort zone every once in a while, especially for really good food. In addition, I think Chef Butcher wanted to give back to the community. I have never been there when I didn’t have to wait if I didn’t call ahead so I think his business plan is doing fine. But is def. an attraction for me, but yeah 99.9% will never experience some of the best food in town.
I agree 100% man. My only point is being in that plaza off Mt. Vernon basically scares the majority of white people. Great food nonetheless.
I think if the majority of white people were to hang out on Mt. Vernon long enough, they would see that black people are just like white people. And then they would have no reason to be scared.
You would think a young man with a degree in Urban Geography and a disdain for Grandview would know where the boundary between the two is.
I completely agree about GV becoming largely a bedroom community. I qualify that with largely because I know there are still some young people living an urban lifestyle but I give that 5 more years before it is gone. Apartments down there are being converted to condos quicker than you can say gentrification.
Even though I only live a few minutes away from GV, the CoJ and Book Loft are the only places I go to with any regularity. And occasionally take a walk around the park. However, I do have some friends who just bought a house in Merion Village so I may be down there more often.
To bring this all back on topic…
If there is only one cap with buildings built for now, I would like to see that on South High from downtown to GV. I think it would be great to have the corridor from GV/BD all the way up to campus completed and dense. Then we could run a rollercoaster up the middle of it. Screw the streetcars.
Walker, I know you live there, but I meant I do not know folks I could drop in on or actually hang out with in GV.
Yeah gsmittynd wrote— “ZERO nightlife? Club 185, Lotus, Round Bar, High Beck, Major Woody’s, Tommy Keegan’s, Tremont…seems like they have a bar for everyone.
The only bars in Italian Village are the ones that I would go to if I wanted to get shot!”
In the interior of GV there is little nightlife. Ha Major Woody’s hahahahaha is a fine example for the community.
Yeah, you will get shot at Bodega or Short North Tavern in no time while in IV.
Shot first and sleep easy.
ZERO nightlife? Club 185, Lotus, Round Bar, High Beck, Major Woody’s, Tommy Keegan’s, Tremont…seems like they have a bar for everyone.
By the boundary shown on the German Village Society’s website, Club 185 is the only one of those bars in German Village. I do think that Brewery District has a real shot at being a great, walkable, urban neighborhood. If only the city could stop wasting money on Whittier Peninsula and do something with that part of South High. Put in some truly mixed income housing options. Maybe a boulevard down High Street, south of 70/71… A ton of great options for them to pursue.
mt vernon and 20th- Maybe Chef Butcher remembers another Mt. Vernon Ave-
By the boundary shown on the German Village Society’s website, Club 185 is the only one of those bars in German Village.
I mentioned a few others that do fall within the GV boundaries…. Lindey’s, Mohawk, Barcelona (although it may be right on the border), the new MoJoe Lounge coming soon, The Sycamore Cafe, The Beck Tavern, Rooster’s, Max & Erma’s. Hell even Schmidt’s has a bar.
8)
So yeah… maybe not all of them are the hippiest places ever, but they’re spread out all over the neighborhood so that there’s at least one nearby if you want to walk for a beer.
8)
So yeah… maybe not all of them are the hippiest places ever, but they’re spread out all over the neighborhood so that there’s at least one nearby if you want to walk for a beer.
touche.
:oops:
A MoJoe Lounge with a patio would be a real draw down there.
Yeah there are a lot of bars there, but I have never ever ever ever had the urge to go there. Maybe it is because I do not live nearby.?