So WB I-670 is getting shifted south to follow the EB lanes?
Actually the opposite, but only temporarily. In the final design as shown in the graphic, WB I-670 stays where it is, EB I-670 gets shifted
slightly north overflying the ramps to/from Jack Gibbs Blvd (& Cleveland Ave), and the bridge occupying essentially the same space as current I-670 EB is a combination of I-670EB > I-71NB + Cleveland Ave > I-670EB. That's not the current I-670 EB bridge, which cannot be retained due to its pier locations and the reconfiguring of I-71 below it.
The changes to I-670 EB are a correction to a flawed design from the 1990s, and are probably only justified because the reconfiguration of I-71 requires replacing that I-670 EB bridge anyway.
There's a couple a things askew with that image. There is no connection between I-71 NB to I-670 WB. On top of that, the "proposed" WB 670 just runs over the existing 71 NB to 670 WB connector (that somehow doesn't connect to 71 NB). The ramps from I-71 SB (and I-670 WB) to Leonard Ave/Cleveland Ave (Ft. Hayes) have disapeared too
The only thing "wrong" with that image is it needs some annotation. (I'll try to do that soon.) What you interpret as the proposed WB 670 is actually the new EB 670 as explained above in this post. The connections between the North Innerbelt and East Innerbelt aren't well-portrayed in this image; if you could pan down, you'd see some braiding. Finally, the ramp from SB I-71 to Cleveland Ave via Jack Gibbs Blvd is indeed gone, but the corresponding exit from I-670 WB is still there.
Here is my question: What is so bad about the current I-71/I-670 interchanges that they have to pour a quarter of a billion dollars to re-build it?
This project isn't really about the I-71/670 junction. It's about reconfiguring and modernizing I-71, with some improvements to I-670 as a "while we're at it, we might as well..." kind of deal. As additional projects kick in over the next several years, the downtown portions of I-70 and I-71 will be drastically reconfigured, modernized, and made more safe. As another "while we're at it" deal, neighborhoods will be reconnected and the corridor will be beautified.
It's my understanding that they are upgrading this end so that when the *real* work starts (70/71) this will be the alternate...almost sounded like the split would be closed.
Actually, at least for EB traffic, the current 71/670 interchange would work better as an alternate to I-70 than the reconfigured one. I think when they get to the nitty gritty of the South Innerbelt, through traffic will probably be maintained as two lanes each way and no exits.