US 33 Upgrades in Ohio

[Black-Man]

I went back through the Q & A section on the 33/682 webpage, and it was confirmed that the "Chauncey Connector" and associated park and ride will be eliminated once the roundabout project is completed.

This interchange upgrade may appear to be trivial but turning left going to Bailey's off of US33 south is an adventure with cars flying down the hill along with the bridge concrete barriers blocking direct line-of-sight make this a tougher left turn than one would expect. And making a right turn off of the southbound exit ramp is a neck breaker as 682 comes at you at an angle from behind.

[Black-Man]

Was traveling east on US33 and I drove by a sign saying US33 eastbound outside of Racine would be closed June 24th. I looked it up and yes, eastbound only with a detour along county roads thru August 8th.

https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/traffic-advisories/district-10/meigs-county-construction-update

[carbaugh2]

I took some time to leaf through the comments on the Hocking County improvements project and found some updates hiding in the responses.

As of July, the only alternatives still under consideration are 2 (33 goes over the frontage connectors) and 3 (tight diamond. The comments preferred option 3 due to less land being excavated and less noise from 33 going over the frontage connectors.

Option B will be used at the roundabout for the 33 WB/180 interchange ramps but will be modified to accommodate the church and elementary school.

The rest area ramps will be redesigned during the detailed design phase.

[TempoNick]

I agree with the Carroll interchange being overdone. It's also not very attractive. At grade it seems like they forgot to work on that area. It's tight, no dividers. I don't like the look or the functionality at all. They would have been better off buying the first row of properties and having a wider berth through there.

[Bitmapped]

I agree with the Carroll interchange being overdone. It's also not very attractive. At grade it seems like they forgot to work on that area. It's tight, no dividers. I don't like the look or the functionality at all. They would have been better off buying the first row of properties and having a wider berth through there.

You wanted more takings, raising the cost of the project and perhaps killing it altogether, because you don't like the aesthetics?

ODOT avoided having to relocate the railroad and power substation. They also managed to protect a number of commercial properties, avoiding negative economic impacts. Taking those properties and relocated the frontage road further away from US 33 would have resulted in small uneconomic land that ultimately would have fell back on ODOT to maintain indefinitely.

[TempoNick]

I realize they are landlocked on the south side, but I think they could have taken the first row of properties on the Carroll side. I don't think that would have broken the bank.

[GCrites]

That also would mean moving a lot more dirt since that land is elevated.

[carbaugh2]

Came across another new project in Franklin County for District 6. It appears there is money to improve US 33 now that the district seems to be finished with "xxx Side Mega Fix" projects in Columbus. The ODOT project page indicates construction will begin in Summer 2026; however, the letting schedule has not been updated to reflect this project.

https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/projects/projects/121811

[TempoNick]

A RIRO at Bixby Road is just plain dumb.

[1995hoo]

A RIRO at Bixby Road is just plain dumb.

Does it make that road's users angry? We wouldn't like them when they're angry.

[TempoNick]

It's simply stupid to go through all this trouble without making it all freeway all the way to Lancaster.

[1995hoo]

It's simply stupid to go through all this trouble without making it all freeway all the way to Lancaster.

I'm guessing you didn't get the joke.

[TempoNick]

I did. I just felt like continuing my rant.

[seicer]

A RIRO at Bixby Road is just plain dumb.

How so? Funding constraints means the state does what it can with the money it has. There are many high priorities in that district clamoring for money. Building an interchange or an overpass at Bixby just isn't warranted at this time.

[1995hoo]

I did. I just felt like continuing my rant.

Heh. I completely understand that. Carry on, then!

[TempoNick]

A RIRO at Bixby Road is just plain dumb.

How so? Funding constraints means the state does what it can with the money it has. There are many high priorities in that district clamoring for money. Building an interchange or an overpass at Bixby just isn't warranted at this time.

It's just another bottleneck. Given the population growth in the area, it should be free flowing all the way from I-270 down into Lancaster. The sooner this is done the better.

They've been talking about an overpass there for years. I don't see what the problem is. The traffic through there justifies it. Have you ever driven through there at night? It's not horribly congested, but it is congested enough.

Why can't we do anything anymore in this country? Doing anything seems to be like pulling teeth. I know it was easier when we had a blank slate to work with, but it seemed like the people in charge had a little more common sense and more of an appetite to get things done.

It's much better to get it over with now while all the other work is being done rather than just being another 10-year nightmare when they add the lane, and then, "oopsie!" I guess we should have built that overpass after all. Let's shut the freeway down for another 3 years on top of the two years they just spent on the I-270/US 33 interchange which I guess is going to have to be worked on again with the additional lane.

I also wonder how much money is being wasted by doing things piecemeal like this instead of just getting it done all at once.

[seicer]

"Why can't we do anything anymore..."

You do know they are funding an entire upgrade for the Columbus-Lancaster portion of US 33, as previously noted, but the funding does not include overpasses or interchanges at some junctions. They are costly endeavors and those needs must be balanced with the needs of every other community in the state. I'd like to see US 23 converted into a freeway south of Columbus to Chillicothe, of which there are intersections and a LOS that far exceeds US 33 - but... a lack of funding has made that into a trickle-down idea. Or US 23 north of Columbus.

I mean, ODOT is spending $77 million to reconstruct the I-70/270/Brice Road interchange. And $1.4 BILLION to rebuild I-70/71 through downtown Columbus. To say they aren't doing anything is ignoring the fact that they are - just not projects you think are important.

[GCrites]

Aggressive project cost inflation (which is and has been much higher that historic regular inflation) keeps projects from being done like they were in the '50s-'60s where they just went in and did everything at once like you saw with the interstates. And even then there were gaps that lasted years or even decades.

[carbaugh2]

Came across another new project in Franklin County for District 6. It appears there is money to improve US 33 now that the district seems to be finished with "xxx Side Mega Fix" projects in Columbus. The ODOT project page indicates construction will begin in Summer 2026; however, the letting schedule has not been updated to reflect this project.

https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/projects/projects/121811

It took a couple of views, but I just realized that the scope of this project keeps changing. The project ID here is 121811 and has a project scope on 33 from SR 104/Refugee Rd to the Hill/Diley interchange. The most recent TRAC listing (https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/wps/wcm/connect/gov/21fa77c2-dcc2-484e-9195-ddcdea4530fc/final2024-27majornewconstructionlistsigned.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CONVERT_TO=url&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE.Z18_M1HGGIK0N0JO00QO9DDDDM3000-21fa77c2-dcc2-484e-9195-ddcdea4530fc-oTQM98k) shows Project ID 119387 with a focus from SR 104/Refugee to Gender Rd. If you look at the upcoming projects spreadsheet, Project ID 76687 is for construction of the Bixby Rd interchange and converting the Rager Rd intersection into cul-de-sacs; however, the Rager Rd work is also included in PID 121811 and now has the north side of Rager become a cul-de-sac while the south side becomes a RIRO like Bixby Rd.

ODOT would help itself and the public by doing two things. First, it should create a US 33 Southeast Corridor page similar to the Brent Spence, I-70/71, and various I-75 mega project pages for better organization since the corridor goes through multiple districts (Pickerington Rd) and, based on ODOT's stated goals, will eventually have projects for grade separations or interchanges at Bixby Rd, Bowens Rd/N High St, and a needed upgrade of the cloverleaf at I-270. Second, ODOT should include more of the project history in the introduction on PID 121811 to account for the (positive) evolution of this project. These edits would bring clarity and should cut down on inquiries for the overworked communications staff at District 6.

[Black-Man]

How so? Funding constraints means the state does what it can with the money it has. There are many high priorities in that district clamoring for money. Building an interchange or an overpass at Bixby just isn't warranted at this time.

I think the confusion lies w/ on ODOT's own project website where the widening had been tied to the construction of a new interchange. Maybe they are doubting the need for an interchange at Bixby and at some point will build a bridge over 33. Distance between the existing interchanges at Gender/Hamilton is a little over 2 miles(?) Is it justified to build another?

Especially considering the area of mega-growth you have a distance of 10+ miles on I-71 between US36 and Polaris Parkway. The NIMBY will certainly prevent a Big Walnut interchange from ever being built.

[TempoNick]

Maybe they are doubting the need for an interchange at Bixby and at some point will build a bridge over 33.

That's what they need to do. Skip the interchange at Bixby, improve the feeder roads, beef up the infrastructure at Hamilton and 33. Adding a short-spaced interchange will create more problems than it solves. Bixby Road simply doesn't connect to anything.

If they want to do what they did to 204 in Pickerington, with a right-only off-ramp, that might work. But a grade-level RIRO is stupid, IMO.

[GCrites]

Little over 1400 VPD on Bixby at 33 on both sides.

[TempoNick]

Little over 1400 VPD on Bixby at 33 on both sides.

In that case, it sounds like nothing is necessary at all. Use the ramps at Hamilton or Gender.

[TempoNick]

Back in the 1960s, they turned Schwartz Road into a cul-de-sac when they built US 33 south of Refugee Road. Schwartz Road didn't skip a beat, although the one house on the south side of the freeway probably felt a little lonely.  You had to go down Winchester Pike a half a mile to take Watkins Road to take you where Schwartz Road used to take you.

At some point, they also decided to build an overpass on Watkins Road over US 33. Late '60s is when they built it.

Bixby Road, Rager Road and whatever else they need to shut down will get used to it.

Stop fooling around and do this the right way.

[carbaugh2]

I took some time to leaf through the comments on the Hocking County improvements project and found some updates hiding in the responses.

As of July, the only alternatives still under consideration are 2 (33 goes over the frontage connectors) and 3 (tight diamond. The comments preferred option 3 due to less land being excavated and less noise from 33 going over the frontage connectors.

Option B will be used at the roundabout for the 33 WB/180 interchange ramps but will be modified to accommodate the church and elementary school.

The rest area ramps will be redesigned during the detailed design phase.

ODOT has updated the project page to confirm Alternative 3 (tight diamond) has been selected as the preferred option. Now we get to play the wait and see game on when the rest of the process will happen. I'm sure the real estate purchases will be lenghty due to all of the properties needed for the frontage roads.