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[cl94]

Just be glad stuff is getting done. I'd love to see orange barrels for something other than maintenance required to keep bridges from falling down 

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

What they're basically promising now is 7 years of continuous construction and then it still won't be all done, unless they move forward with other phases before 2024, in which case it'll be at least a decade of continuous construction.  We're about to get an orange-barrel occupation like Clevelanders, Cincinnatians, Daytonians, and Toledoans are familiar with.

In other words, remember "Spring-Sandusky?" (Something that took 10 years to complete and locals have long forgotten the worse of)

[vtk]

I didn't start driving until 2000, but my family drove through Spring-Sandusky on 315 semi-regularly in the 90s and I don't remember it being constantly under construction.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Morphed into...

At the turn of the millennium, this was 315 between Town St and Goodale Blvd.

(last photo taken by someone for Columbus Monthly magazine)

[vtk]

Morphed into...

At the turn of the millennium, this was 315 between Town St and Goodale Blvd.

I remember finding that Dispatch graphic in my grandpa's bathroom, and in 2001 I wrote Tim Mentel at Paving The Way asking for some more detailed plans for I-670 than what was in the press at the time, and he sent me a print of that second diagram you posted.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

First Columbus Crossroads post for 2018.
Mound Street going one way (EB) as construction to widen it starts.
http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180223/mound-street-project-to-make-downtown-driving-even-more-difficult

[cl94]

About flipping time. Nice to see more progress on this thing (finally). Didn't look like much was going on when I was through there in August 2017.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Starting yesterday [April 27], drivers heading south on Route 315 as it merges with I-71 west of Downtown will no longer be able to exit at Greenlawn Avenue.  ODOT said it made the decision for safety reasons.

During construction of the South Side Mega Fix and after the reconfiguration of traffic lanes is finished in 2020, the way to exit at Greenlawn Avenue will change.  Southbound Route 315 travelers would've only had 400 feet to merge across two lanes to exit at Greenlawn, instead of the current 1,200 feet.

In the above linked article, ODOT spokeswoman Nancy Burton said, “400 feet is simply not enough pavement, not enough time, to make that maneuver.  It’s already kind of a tricky maneuver to begin with.”

Drivers heading south on I-71 from eastbound and westbound I-70 will still be able to exit at Greenlawn.



Link (if you can get past the Dispatch's paywall): http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180426/greenlawn-ave-exit-from-southbound-rt-315-to-permanently-close-friday

[PurdueBill]

Bummer--the bridge-mounted sign for Greenlawn that is abnormally high above the road on 315 SB (if it is still 315 there) as it goes under 70 WB will be irrelevant now and probably gone soon (if not already).

[silverback1065]

it's nice your guys inner loop is getting reconstructed without much fuss.  Here in Indy NIMBYs are trying to get rid of it. 

[osubrett2]

Bummer--the bridge-mounted sign for Greenlawn that is abnormally high above the road on 315 SB (if it is still 315 there) as it goes under 70 WB will be irrelevant now and probably gone soon (if not already).

It was removed the day of the closure.

I understand why the exit is now prohibited from 315SB, but it really creates other challenges to get into German/Merion Villages. The detour is 71SB to 104, and then using 104 to head east or get back on 71NB to exit Greenlawn from that direction. With speaking with neighbors, most are using 315SB to 70EB, and then having to merge across 4 lanes in 1/2 mile to exit Front/High Streets. During rush hour, this is a huge challenge and creates other issues.

Other ongoing projects in the area are making travel into the southside neighborhoods rather annoying and tiresome. As part of the Crossroads, the Grant Avenue bridge from downtown to GV over I-70 has been demolished. And Columbus City is re-configuring Parsons Avenue from 4 lanes to 3 (1 each direction + 1 center turn lane) and this has created bottlenecks getting down through Nationwide Children's.

[PurdueBill]

Bummer--the bridge-mounted sign for Greenlawn that is abnormally high above the road on 315 SB (if it is still 315 there) as it goes under 70 WB will be irrelevant now and probably gone soon (if not already).

It was removed the day of the closure.

I understand why the exit is now prohibited from 315SB, but it really creates other challenges to get into German/Merion Villages. The detour is 71SB to 104, and then using 104 to head east or get back on 71NB to exit Greenlawn from that direction. With speaking with neighbors, most are using 315SB to 70EB, and then having to merge across 4 lanes in 1/2 mile to exit Front/High Streets. During rush hour, this is a huge challenge and creates other issues.

Other ongoing projects in the area are making travel into the southside neighborhoods rather annoying and tiresome. As part of the Crossroads, the Grant Avenue bridge from downtown to GV over I-70 has been demolished. And Columbus City is re-configuring Parsons Avenue from 4 lanes to 3 (1 each direction + 1 center turn lane) and this has created bottlenecks getting down through Nationwide Children's.

They're more on top of things in Columbus than elsewhere in the state.  In Akron on I-76/77, signs for Exit 22B remained standing for over a year after the exits were closed, never to open again, with orange CLOSED strips over them. Only having to remove the sign bridges themselves caused the signs to come down, over a year after the exit was closed.  That sign in Columbus was memorably high--it was the first thing I thought of when the exit prohibition was mentioned.
It seems like the practical detour in Columbus is no better than the old condition with a weave.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I understand why the exit is now prohibited from 315SB, but it really creates other challenges to get into German/Merion Villages. The detour is 71SB to 104, and then using 104 to head east or get back on 71NB to exit Greenlawn from that direction. With speaking with neighbors, most are using 315SB to 70EB, and then having to merge across 4 lanes in 1/2 mile to exit Front/High Streets. During rush hour, this is a huge challenge and creates other issues.

Other ongoing projects in the area are making travel into the southside neighborhoods rather annoying and tiresome. As part of the Crossroads, the Grant Avenue bridge from downtown to GV over I-70 has been demolished. And Columbus City is re-configuring Parsons Avenue from 4 lanes to 3 (1 each direction + 1 center turn lane) and this has created bottlenecks getting down through Nationwide Children's.

That sign in Columbus was memorably high--it was the first thing I thought of when the exit prohibition was mentioned.
It seems like the practical detour in Columbus is no better than the old condition with a weave.

Maybe it'll just be a 5 year detour?
https://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/7071/PublishingImages/Phasing%20Plan%20-%209-2016%20update%20r3.jpg

[Buck87]

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/7071/Documents/Closures%20-%20What%20to%20Expect.pdf

Currently ongoing the reconstruction and widening of I-70 eastbound between 4th and Miller, changes to ramps at Parsons and Fulton, as well as some street level work.

Looking at the TRAC list, looks like there's also funding for the westbound I-70 reconstruction and widening in 2021

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

First bit of fallout, due to DeWine "shutting down" Ohio, last month, has come forth.
ODOT is postponing one of the parts of the Crossroads project (new bridge & ramp around Front St) from later this year to 2021.
https://www.columbusunderground.com/broad-street-ramps-to-close-future-phase-of-70-71-project-delayed-bw1

[vtk]

Here's a graphic I made showing the current progress on the 70/71 east split. The background photography is from April of this year, via Google Earth. The drawing on top represents current progress as I've observed, and future construction.

The white lines are the mainlines and ramps of the future configuration.

Bridges outlined in white (

• Grant Ave over I-70/71;
• 18th St over I-70; and
• the westbound exit to Mound St over
  • Parsons Ave,
  • I-71, and
  • various ramps

) are complete, built anew for this interchange reconstruction.

The bridge outlined in magenta (

• Parsons Ave over the former path of I-70 EB

) has been removed.

The bridges outlined in cyan (

• I-70 over
  
  • I-71 NB,
  • Parsons Ave, and
  • the I-71 SB to I-70 EB ramp; and
• the ramp from Fulton St to I-70 EB and I-71 NB over I-71 NB

) are currently under construction, with beams already set and decking in progress.

The bridges outlined in orange (

• I-70 [formerly WB, currently both directions] over
  
  • I-71 [formerly both directions, now NB only],
  • Parsons Ave, and
  • the I-71 SB to I-70 EB ramp;
• Parsons Ave in its current alignment over
  
  • the I-71 SB to I-70 EB ramp and
  • the I-70 WB to I-71 NB ramp;
• I-71 NB over the I-71 SB to I-70 EB ramp [which I forgot to outline in the illustration]; and
• Main St over I-71

) are presently standing but will be removed.

The bridges outlined in yellow (

• the ramp from Fulton St to I-70 EB and I-71 NB over I-70 and I-71 SB;
• Parsons Ave in its new alignment over
  
  • the I-71 SB to I-70 EB ramp and
  • the I-70 WB to I-71 NB ramp;
• I-71 NB over
  
  • the I-71 SB to I-70 EB ramp and
  • the I-70 WB to I-71 NB to I-670 WB ramp;
• and Main St over I-71

) will be built in the future. Note that the Main St bridge over I-71 is marked as both "presently standing, will be removed" and "will be built in the future"; it is my understanding that the alignment of Main St may slightly change alignment, and the new bridge will probably have its supports in different places.

The next traffic shift will be of I-71 NB, to its new alignment under the new Fulton St ramp and I-70 bridges. This will happen next month, weather permitting; otherwise, it will be postponed until the spring.

[Buck87]

^ Thanks for such a detailed breakdown

[vtk]

Looks like paving is underway for the new I-71 north through movement

(Note: the caption "I-70 at Front St" loosely refers to the camera location, not the location of the area visible in the picture. This view is looking roughly east, and the bridge in the middle of the image is Grant Ave over I-70/71. The camera is actually mounted high up on one of the county government buildings, just north of Fulton St, and roughly halfway between Front St and High St.)

[GCrites80s]

Wait, is that a tunnel? Or at least what passes for a tunnel in Columbus? Somehow I missed that. It's too hard to see a lot of what's going on when you drive through since it's about like navigating Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course right now.

[vtk]

I think it's just a bridge, but with the beams perpendicular across the roadway below instead of parallel to the roadway above. It kinda looks like they're only building the deck where the roadway above will be.

[6a]

Wait, is that a tunnel? Or at least what passes for a tunnel in Columbus? Somehow I missed that. It's too hard to see a lot of what's going on when you drive through since it's about like navigating Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course right now.

ODOT is referring to it as a tunnel

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Can't be longer than the old Pennsy RR overpass on I-71, between 5th & 11th Aves.

[GCrites80s]

Probably not with by the amount of daylight you can see at the end.

[vtk]

A bit of an update, using a traffic camera with annotations:

Current traffic pattern:


Finished traffic pattern:


Over the weekend, beams were set for the middle span of the bridge that will carry the entrance from Fulton St to I-70 EB & I-71 NB.

[vtk]

I went downtown to take a bunch of pictures today…

From the eastbound exit to Parsons Ave (looking out the driver side window):
















From the 18th St bridge looking west:








From a parking lot off Fulton St, looking south:



From the Grant Ave bridge looking east:








From the Grant Ave bridge looking west:



From Fulton St looking southeast, south, and/or southwest: