I-71/I-75 Brent Spence Bridge Replacement

[Flint1979]

I work in Hebron (a couple miles west of the airport) and live in Cincinnati. At 9:15 they had the ramp from 275 east to 71/75 north blocked as well. I ended up detouring via Turkeyfoot to Dixie to Buttermilk. Things finally reopened about an hour ago.

That ramp had been blocked when I last posted here. It was the westbound I-275 to northbound I-71/75 ramp that was the only one open at that time.

[amroad17]

Welcome to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky!!!

Some of the traffic could be alleviated in a couple of days when the Brent Spence is scheduled to open--maybe.  Then it can go back to being the 2nd busiest bridge crossing in the US behind the George Washington Bridge.

This area does need an additional bridge crossing.

[Flint1979]

Looks like the bridge is scheduled to reopen tomorrow. Currently I-71/75 is closed northbound north of I-275 in Kentucky once again and there is a 3 mile backup leading into that interchange.

[CardInLex]

The bridge reopened today at approximately 2:45pm eastern.

[triplemultiplex]

2nd busiest bridge crossing in the US behind the George Washington Bridge.

Is that true?  If so, that's surprising.  I'd assume something like the Bay Bridge out in Cali or one of the other NYC bridges would be #2.

[Rothman]

2nd busiest bridge crossing in the US behind the George Washington Bridge.

Is that true?  If so, that's surprising.  I'd assume something like the Bay Bridge out in Cali or one of the other NYC bridges would be #2.

Yeah, that seems hard to believe.

[CtrlAltDel]

The bridge reopened today at approximately 2:45pm eastern.

That is good to hear!

[jmacswimmer]

2nd busiest bridge crossing in the US behind the George Washington Bridge.

Is that true?  If so, that's surprising.  I'd assume something like the Bay Bridge out in Cali or one of the other NYC bridges would be #2.

Yeah, that seems hard to believe.

Several of the articles reporting on the reopening mention an ADT estimate of 160,000-180,000.  I believe both the SFO-Oakland Bay Bridge and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge are >200,000, so that would put the Brent Spence out of 2nd place right there.

(And locally for me, the 2 Potomac River crossings on the Capital Beltway both punch close to 250,000 based off MDOT SHA's online traffic count data.)

[GreenLanternCorps]

2nd busiest bridge crossing in the US behind the George Washington Bridge.

Is that true?  If so, that's surprising.  I'd assume something like the Bay Bridge out in Cali or one of the other NYC bridges would be #2.

Yeah, that seems hard to believe.

Several of the articles reporting on the reopening mention an ADT estimate of 160,000-180,000.  I believe both the SFO-Oakland Bay Bridge and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge are >200,000, so that would put the Brent Spence out of 2nd place right there.

(And locally for me, the 2 Potomac River crossings on the Capital Beltway both punch close to 250,000 based off MDOT SHA's online traffic count data.)

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

[ilpt4u]

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

Just move 471 from between 71 and 275 to between 71 and 75, and move 71 onto what is now 471 and then 275 back to 75

Then 71 and 75 would cross on different bridges. Not that complicated, with roadways and bridges already there

[Rothman]

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

Just move 471 from between 71 and 275 to between 71 and 75, and move 71 onto what is now 471 and then 275 back to 75

Then 71 and 75 would cross on different bridges. Not that complicated, with roadways and bridges already there

I don't see the point.

[ilpt4u]

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

Just move 471 from between 71 and 275 to between 71 and 75, and move 71 onto what is now 471 and then 275 back to 75

Then 71 and 75 would cross on different bridges. Not that complicated, with roadways and bridges already there

I don't see the point.

I don't either

The only objective it achieves is 71 and 75 crossing the Ohio on separate bridges, which is what the post I replied to specifically called for

[I-55]

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

Just move 471 from between 71 and 275 to between 71 and 75, and move 71 onto what is now 471 and then 275 back to 75

Then 71 and 75 would cross on different bridges. Not that complicated, with roadways and bridges already there

I don't see the point.

I don't either

The only objective it achieves is 71 and 75 crossing the Ohio on separate bridges, which is what the post I replied to specifically called for

At that point you might as well just sign I-71 on I-275 all the way around the east side of town and redesignate old 71 as I-671. Less ramps for 71 to take and better continuity.

[seicer]

There was a proposal to construct a new terrain alignment of Interstate 71 between its junction near Walton to Interstate 471, and redesignate Interstate 471 as Interstate 71. That idea passed long ago because of increasing land value costs that now make the project prohibitively expensive.

[ilpt4u]

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

Just move 471 from between 71 and 275 to between 71 and 75, and move 71 onto what is now 471 and then 275 back to 75

Then 71 and 75 would cross on different bridges. Not that complicated, with roadways and bridges already there

I don't see the point.

I don't either

The only objective it achieves is 71 and 75 crossing the Ohio on separate bridges, which is what the post I replied to specifically called for

At that point you might as well just sign I-71 on I-275 all the way around the east side of town and redesignate old 71 as I-671. Less ramps for 71 to take and better continuity.

That is such an Indianapolis solution...

[Henry]

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

Just move 471 from between 71 and 275 to between 71 and 75, and move 71 onto what is now 471 and then 275 back to 75

Then 71 and 75 would cross on different bridges. Not that complicated, with roadways and bridges already there

I don't see the point.

I don't either

The only objective it achieves is 71 and 75 crossing the Ohio on separate bridges, which is what the post I replied to specifically called for

At that point you might as well just sign I-71 on I-275 all the way around the east side of town and redesignate old 71 as I-671. Less ramps for 71 to take and better continuity.

That is such an Indianapolis solution...

Actually, you can blame it on Washington...

[I-55]

It may not be the 2nd busiest in the country, but it is still an incredibly busy crossing due to carrying two interstates.  In retrospect it might have been better to have 71 and 75 cross the Ohio separately, but given the hilly terrain that might have been difficult.

Just move 471 from between 71 and 275 to between 71 and 75, and move 71 onto what is now 471 and then 275 back to 75

Then 71 and 75 would cross on different bridges. Not that complicated, with roadways and bridges already there

I don't see the point.

I don't either

The only objective it achieves is 71 and 75 crossing the Ohio on separate bridges, which is what the post I replied to specifically called for

At that point you might as well just sign I-71 on I-275 all the way around the east side of town and redesignate old 71 as I-671. Less ramps for 71 to take and better continuity.

That is such an Indianapolis solution...

Actually, you can blame it on Washington...

It is pretty effective in Indy though. The only times I have traffic issues in Indy are when INDOT decides to close 5 lanes at once. Other than that, traffic may get  thick but it moves nevertheless. Of course, our beltway is structured a little better to act as a bypass route than say, Cincy.

[kkt]

It's my single most hated stretch of I-75.

<Atlanta is disappointed>

There, there.  You'll always be Number 1 to me, Atlanta.

[Buck87]

Now that the infrastructure bill has passed, I think it's a good time to resume discussion of this topic. 

Will this project now be able to move forward without tolls?
Of the different types and layers of funding provided by the bill, which are most likely to be used or applied for here?
How soon could this thing get started?

[SkyPesos]

How soon could this thing get started?

sometime in the 2060s

[seicer]

Ky., Ohio governors jointly request up to $2B for Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project

Kentucky and Ohio Govs. Andy Beshear and Mike DeWine announced their plans to jointly request up to $2 billion in federal funding for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project at a press conference in Covington on Monday. Both governors signed a memorandum of understanding confirming the states' intention to work together on the long-discussed bridge project. Signing the memorandum allows transportation officials in both state.

Building a companion bridge over the Ohio river to the west of the Brent Spence Bridge would be the primary objective in the plan if the requested funds are approved. The funding is part of the bipartisan federal infrastructure bill, which includes at least $39 billion for bridge projects.

[Plutonic Panda]

Article from Construction Equipment Guide with some cool renderings I hadn't seen before. This will be a massive project:

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/ohio-kentucky-to-improve-brent-spence-bridge-corridor/56671

[SkyPesos]

I'm really hoping they go with the cable stayed design. The other one looks very similar to the I-471 bridge.

[codyg1985]

Based on the rendering, it looks like through I-71/75 traffic would use the new bridge while local traffic bound for downtown Cincinnati and Covington would use the existing bridge span.

[Plutonic Panda]

Another article about this: https://landline.media/ohio-legislature-approves-transportation-plan-brent-spence-bridge-funding/