US 33 Upgrades in Ohio

[GCrites]

Here is information, including design alternative maps and a virtual meeting video for the Pickerington Rd. interchange:

https://www.publicinput.com/F4382

[Buck87]

Here is information, including design alternative maps and a virtual meeting video for the Pickerington Rd. interchange:

https://www.publicinput.com/F4382

Thanks for that. Of the 4 proposed alternatives still in the running (https://www.publicinput.com/Customer/File/Full/b9a3f7e6-2cc1-4029-b3a3-2d50d6da8d53), I like Alternative #2 the best. Also, #9 is kind of interesting, in that it would have somewhat similar wonkiness as the next exit down in Carroll.

5 Alternatives have been eliminated from consideration: https://www.publicinput.com/Customer/File/Full/b7600959-cf0d-4acf-83ca-3921d958a8df
On those I se that #3 is basically the same thing as #4 from the still in the running list, but with smooth curves for through movements on Pickerington Rd instead of a bunch of turns. I guess it must cost too much to do it that way.

All 9 alternatives eliminate 4 total at grade intersections: Pickerington Rd, Columbus Lancaster Rd, and Allen Rd x2. The also all have a pair of concrete elevated ramps for the movements to and from US 33 eastbound that are tightly squeezed into the available space between 33 and the parallel railroad line.

[GCrites]

Seems like from the feedback that a lot of people like #9. The commenters I heard actually were pretty sharp, it's wasn't a bunch of "grrr, this is going to make a bunch of people move here" stuff. They did not like parclos; several people mentioned that.

Hard to tell from the map, but #3 would have taken out 7-10 houses.

It's going to be tough to get that overpass in there if they do it right at the Pickerington Rd. junction. It's going to be double height too for the double stacked rail cars (that don't run through here currently due to track degradation). I almost think 33 will have to move a bit to the north for it.

[The Ghostbuster]

Whichever alternative they choose, I hope the exit is numbered from the get-go. Alt. 2 would probably be numbered 140, while the rest would likely be numbered 141.

[6a]

What is the proposed 33-70 connector that's mentioned? First I've heard of such a thing.

[GCrites]

^I think that's the "whole idea" of the freeway conversion in general, including the Petzinger interchange. Maybe in some people's minds it includes the Lancaster and Nelsonville Bypasses and even the past Athens County work.

[vtk]

What is the proposed 33-70 connector that's mentioned? First I've heard of such a thing.

I think that's a local north-south arterial proposed for the area by planners in Pickerington. Intended to run from US 33 at/near Allen Rd to I-70 at/near Mink St, or something like that.

[GCrites]

Oh ew, I don't like the sound of that if that's what it is. Sounds unnecessary even with warehouse growth at 310.

[6a]

What is the proposed 33-70 connector that's mentioned? First I've heard of such a thing.

I think that's a local north-south arterial proposed for the area by planners in Pickerington. Intended to run from US 33 at/near Allen Rd to I-70 at/near Mink St, or something like that.

Oh wow. I had never heard of this

[Buck87]

I do remember an article from several years back that stated Pickerington preferred Allen Rd over Pickerington Rd for some reason for the location of a future interchange, so that planned connector must have been why?   

[carbaugh2]

What is the proposed 33-70 connector that's mentioned? First I've heard of such a thing.

I think that's a local north-south arterial proposed for the area by planners in Pickerington. Intended to run from US 33 at/near Allen Rd to I-70 at/near Mink St, or something like that.

Oh wow. I had never heard of this

I had never heard anything of it, either, but I was able to find this document through MORPC. The concept makes a lot of sense given that Etna is well on its way to become the next distribution hub in central Ohio. Besides, there is no freely flowing north-south connection between I-70 and US 33 from Ohio 37 to I-270. While I hate the thought of losing more quality farmland in the area, I think that this road would be very beneficial to area residents as well as the distribution centers.

http://www.morpc.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/FAI_I-70_to_US_33_Connector.pdf

[GCrites]

That long of an all-new alignment though? That's going to be incredibly expensive today. We haven't seen something that long all new that I can think of nearby since 35 from Xenia to Washington C.H. and Chillicothe to Richmond Dale 20 years ago. Maybe OH-16 east of Newark around the same time. Sounds like another free gift to Amazon.

[carbaugh2]

I certainly agree that it will be very costly. Where I do disagree, though, is that it is just a gift to Amazon. Between Amazon, Prologis Park 70, the Etna Corporate Park and the Pataskala Corporate Park, Etna has become a distribution hub in the Midwest. Amazon's first building is just what you see from I-70 right now, but that is changing. Development (Etna Park 70 and The Cubes at Etna 70) is taking place on the south side of the 310 interchange, including a new Kohl's distribution center. Ashley Furniture just announced last week that it will be moving into Etna when its new distribution center opens in 2021. Amazon recently broke ground on its 2nd building in the area as well, bringing the company's total occupancy in Etna to between 2-2.25 million square feet. Etna already has somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 million square feet of distribution center and light manufacturing space, and it seems like the Newark Advocate reports on a new ground breaking ceremony in Etna or Pataskala on a weekly or biweekly basis. I would imagine that Fairfield County and MORPC see this connector as a way to enhance and expand the investment opportunities in this area of central Ohio.

[vtk]

It will probably be built in segments over a period of more than a decade, like Dublin's Emerald Parkway, Grove City's Buckeye Parkway, or Delaware County's Sawmill Parkway.

[GCrites]

Some of the people that were calling in to the virtual meeting were complaining about "Amazon trucks" traveling on Allen Road (a two lane "country road" for sure). I thought they just meant the standard Ram delivery vans -- no, they were talking about full semis. I see these semis pull off of Allen Road onto 33 now. Obviously this is a bit of a spectacle seeing them make a right angle turn uphill onto a freeway that has just come down from 70mph to 60.

[carbaugh2]

ODOT District 5 announced today that it has chosen Alternative 2 for the Pickerington Rd/Allen Rd area (https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/OHDOT/bulletins/2b98396). As a refresher, this creates a parclo interchange at Pickerington Rd and turns both intersections with Allen Rd into cul de sacs. With the ~$40 million price tag, I wonder if this will have to go through TRAC or if it will be able to funded differently like the Northeast and Southside Mega Fixes. The alternatives may still be viewed at http://www.publicinput.com/F4382?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.

[GCrites]

Saw some drilling going on at the SW corner of 33 and Pickerington Rd. today. Core samples?

[GCrites]

The Distracted Driving and Speeding Enforcement Corridor signs have all been removed including the "XX Number of Days Since Last Serious Accident" ones. So that lasted 11 months. The sign posts remain. Perhaps they are going to try another concept.

[vtk]

Those were so silly

[SkyPesos]

Saw some of those "distracted driving corridor" signs on I-71 and I-77 in the northeast part of the state about a month ago, and I had no clue what the real point of those signs are for. It's not like that you'll get more people to drive at the speed limit when traffic is flowing at 10 mph above.

[GCrites]

Today the posts were gone as well.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

ODOT & OHP are still keeping their distracted driving corridor signs along I-71, up by my house (Delaware/Morrow Counties).

[I-55]

I can get behind target enforcement on distracted and drunk driving, as those cause problems regardless of what the rest of traffic is doing, but speed (especially on freeways) causes problems when compared to the rest of traffic. I'm not going to follow an artificial speed cap delegated by a sign when I have multi-ton hunks of metal motoring around me at body-temperature speeds.

[GCrites]

What's ironic is that the amount of patrols tanked while the signs were up due to COVID and speeds reached higher. There are a few stretches north of Lancaster where a lot of people won't reach the speed limit, especially the commercial traffic. This of course leads to platooning. Due to this rampant unwillingness and platooning, I feel that the speed limit should be reduced to 65 from 70 between Allen Rd. and the Lancaster Bypass. Too much weaving in that stretch as well.

[GCrites]

Was in Nelsonville Monday and the Distracted Driving and Speeding Enforcement Corridor signs are still in force on 33 from Nelsonville to 17 miles to the east of there.