I-270/OH 161 tunnel

[exit10]

Yes, another Columbus post.

The ramp from westbound 161 onto southbound 270 goes underground via a short tunnel. Even by the standards of this gratuitously large interchange (thank you, Les Wexner), how is it possible that this was cheaper or easier than adding another level to the stack or some other approach?

Also, is this the only highway tunnel in the state of Ohio?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3780+E+Dublin+Granville+Rd,+Westerville,+OH

[Stephane Dumas]

There a small tunnel for Fort Washington way (I-71) in Cincinnati between the ramps for US-50 East and I-471
http://goo.gl/maps/t4DFK

[NE2]

I suppose it was easier to go down one level than up two. The I-64/I-270 interchange west of St. Louis reflects a similar decision (though that one's not long enough to look like a tunnel).

OSM data has the following additional tunnels in Ohio:

North Valley Road under the Greene County Airport runway: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=39.691816,-83.998246&spn=0.015125,0.033023&gl=us&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.691385,-83.998107&panoid=qAETtALuf2yPsgKR4RDRZg&cbp=12,190.47,,0,4.5
Dalton Avenue under the Cincinnati Union Terminal approach: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=39.110949,-84.536458&spn=0.007625,0.016512&gl=us&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=39.110851,-84.536256&panoid=al7Dr-JV3o5FfAxdmA0idQ&cbp=12,195.64,,0,6.55
The west exit from the Western Hills Viaduct lower level (hard to tell from the Goog whether this is actually a tunnel)
Canal Road in Cleveland (more of a half-tunnel): http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.495834,-81.690195&spn=0.007329,0.016512&gl=us&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.495862,-81.690643&panoid=X2U6fmgkVLztUXC0Ss_kgQ&cbp=12,92.31,,0,4.42
High Street under Bartges Street in Akron; Dixie Highway frontage road under Muhlhauser Road near Hamilton (these might count as bridges)
The ramp from Broadway Street down to the Ohio: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=39.097049~-84.505303&lvl=17&dir=0&sty=x~lat~39.097049~lon~-84.505303~alt~114.72~z~30~h~131~p~-16.9~pid~5082&app=5082&FORM=LMLTCC
Sawyer Road under several Columbus Airport taxiways: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.000203,-82.878839&spn=0.015057,0.033023&gl=us&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.000203,-82.878839&panoid=6nliNkUKxw720HtBAWlphQ&cbp=12,287.89,,0,1.11

As well as some under railroad embankments, e.g. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.966111,-82.122266&spn=0.014777,0.033023&gl=us&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.965518,-82.121604&panoid=uXJ8pUQDfZRz_6_tMsiKZQ&cbp=12,148.07,,0,2.57
Including a 250-foot one under a yard on Division/Burlington Street in Youngstown, 425 feet on Fifth Avenue in Columbus, and a 300-foot one on I-71 in Columbus (and on adjacent streets): http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=39.990648,-82.985299&spn=0.014993,0.033023&gl=us&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.990648,-82.985299&panoid=Vy78J9Zo4adCacVMpPHPsg&cbp=12,13.92,,0,-0.47

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I found it funny, when that interchange was completed, when ODOT and the C-bus media refered to that ramp as a tunnel.
I think its shorter than the (mostly abandoned) railroad bridge that goes over I-71 and Cleveland Ave (Oh 3) near the state fairgrounds.

[vtk]

OpenStreetMap seems more likely to classify something as a tunnel than FHWA or ODOT.  But I'd say this ramp indeed includes a tunnel.  I also question why they built a tunnel, though to me the alternative would be almost the same: a trench with traditional bridges carrying I-270 over it.

[Alps]

A tunnel is based on the method of construction - either bored, or cut and cover. Otherwise it's just a long underpass.

[NE2]

But building an overpass is in a way a small-scale cut and cover. Several adjacent overpasses with buildings in between can create a long tunnel.

[Alps]

But building an overpass is in a way a small-scale cut and cover. Several adjacent overpasses with buildings in between can create a long tunnel.

Not unless you've cut down to create it. The Garden State Parkway at Springfield Ave. could go either way, since it was trenched beneath existing roads. The I-78 overpass of NJ 124 is not a tunnel, despite being more than twice as long as it is wide.

[NE2]

What if you change the de facto ground level, such as in Chicago?

[6a]

how is it possible that this was cheaper or easier than adding another level to the stack or some other approach?

I always thought it was funny to call it a tunnel, and the TUNNEL CLOSED WHEN FLASHING signs and VMS'es on the approach made it even funnier since it is so short.  Especially when all the bad accidents happen on the SE section of that interchange (the NB 270 -> 161 ramp.)

Anyway, I always figured, without any research whatsoever, that they did it for winter conditions - bridge ices before road and all that.  I say that after living in Charlotte and dealing with the notorious 77/485 bridge that they don't even bother salting.  I also figured winter was the reason we have so many bridges and overpasses that have walls around them instead of exposed piers.  If that's not the real reason, someone please let me down gently

[Henry]

I always thought it was funny to call it a tunnel, and the TUNNEL CLOSED WHEN FLASHING signs and VMS'es on the approach made it even funnier since it is so short.  Especially when all the bad accidents happen on the SE section of that interchange (the NB 270 -> 161 ramp.)

Anyway, I always figured, without any research whatsoever, that they did it for winter conditions - bridge ices before road and all that.  I say that after living in Charlotte and dealing with the notorious 77/485 bridge that they don't even bother salting.  I also figured winter was the reason we have so many bridges and overpasses that have walls around them instead of exposed piers.  If that's not the real reason, someone please let me down gently

I've always imagined that these tunnels are more common in the northern states for the reasons cited above.

In Atlanta, there's a tunnel-like canopy near the end of the Freedom Parkway that is there for those reasons as well. So even in the South, wintery conditions can happen anytime, although severe weather in this form is rarer than in the North.

[Alps]

What if you change the de facto ground level, such as in Chicago?

When you get to the triple layer, which one is the actual ground? Assuming the lowest level is ground level, I would call them stacked structures, not tunnels.

[NE2]

My general idea is that you can have cover without cut (most obviously when a stream becomes a sewer), or cut and then decades later cover. Depending on the construction details, the conversion of the Morris Canal to the Newark City Subway under Raymond Boulevard was one of these. Is Raymond Boulevard a long bridge? Perhaps, but then so is the deck over any cut-and-cover tunnel.