Columbus, Ohio road meet: September 30, 2017

[PHLBOS]

I will be attending this meet.  It'll be the first one I've attended in almost 2 years.

I'll be flying in that morning (scheduled arrival time 8:35 AM) & will rent a car.

I'll be staying overnight and will fly back early Sunday afternoon (scheduled departure time 2:10 PM)

For those that are wondering: I'm flying rather than driving due to distance & the fact that I took more time off from work this year (due to 2 recent deaths in the family, those on FB already know); plus I had some Rapid Rewards Points (on Southwest) to use.

I'm looking forward to this meet.

[hbelkins]

Trying to figure out if I want to stay in the Grove City area on Friday night and then drive across town to the meet Saturday morning, or stay on the north side of town and be closer to the meet.

The fact that I'll be driving up Friday afternoon and will want to avoid evening rush across town will play a role in my decision unless someone can offer a good suggestion on how to get from the US 23 area on the south side of town to the Worthington area in the afternoon without encountering a traffic nightmare.

[tckma]

Going to have to decline this one.

[cl94]

Trying to figure out if I want to stay in the Grove City area on Friday night and then drive across town to the meet Saturday morning, or stay on the north side of town and be closer to the meet.

The fact that I'll be driving up Friday afternoon and will want to avoid evening rush across town will play a role in my decision unless someone can offer a good suggestion on how to get from the US 23 area on the south side of town to the Worthington area in the afternoon without encountering a traffic nightmare.

Depends entirely on the time of the afternoon. If you're getting to Columbus between 3:30 and 5:30, there is no good way up there, as both 315 and 71 will be messed up, while 270 is a mess on the north side. Get there before then and you'll be fine taking 270 around either side, while you can just shoot up 315 after 5:30-6. From my experience driving through there in recent years, traffic patterns haven't changed much since I lived there (they're just fixing the major choke points now).

[hbelkins]

Trying to figure out if I want to stay in the Grove City area on Friday night and then drive across town to the meet Saturday morning, or stay on the north side of town and be closer to the meet.

The fact that I'll be driving up Friday afternoon and will want to avoid evening rush across town will play a role in my decision unless someone can offer a good suggestion on how to get from the US 23 area on the south side of town to the Worthington area in the afternoon without encountering a traffic nightmare.

Depends entirely on the time of the afternoon. If you're getting to Columbus between 3:30 and 5:30, there is no good way up there, as both 315 and 71 will be messed up, while 270 is a mess on the north side. Get there before then and you'll be fine taking 270 around either side, while you can just shoot up 315 after 5:30-6. From my experience driving through there in recent years, traffic patterns haven't changed much since I lived there (they're just fixing the major choke points now).

I suspect it'll be right at the heart of rush hour.

I have a doctor's appointment that morning, so I expect I'll be leaving my hometown about 11 a.m. My planned route is US 23 once I reach Greenup County, Ky., by taking the direct route involving KY 7, I-64 and KY 67. I want to avoid Cincinnati at all costs because I have not been there in recent years when traffic wasn't a cluster foxtrot.

I'm not opposed to taking some wild out-of-the-way route involving US 22 east out of Circleville, then north on some unknown route and then west on another unknown route, if I opt for Worthington or something else on the north side and not Grove City for my overnight stop. Yes, I'll drive 100 miles out of the way, especially if it's on routes that are new to me, to avoid sitting in gridlock.

[cl94]

I'm not opposed to taking some wild out-of-the-way route involving US 22 east out of Circleville, then north on some unknown route and then west on another unknown route, if I opt for Worthington or something else on the north side and not Grove City for my overnight stop. Yes, I'll drive 100 miles out of the way, especially if it's on routes that are new to me, to avoid sitting in gridlock.

In that case, I have a few options. I'll divide this into sections of the route:

US 23-Lancaster

1. US 22. The simplest option.
2. SR 159. Crosses US 23 just north of Chillicothe and cuts the corner over to Lancaster, ending at US 22 just west of US 33. Little-used route through rural farm country.

Lancaster-Newark

The best way to head north is SR 37 (signed WB). First through route east of the Columbus metro. Intersects US 22 in downtown Lancaster.

Newark-Worthington

West of Newark, SR 37 hops onto a freeway. A few options from here.

1. If after 5:30-6, stay on the freeway, which becomes SR 161. Take SR 161 straight to Worthington or bail onto I-270.
2. Exit the freeway with SR 37, take SR 37/US 36 to US 23 in Delaware and south to Worthington
3. Same as 2, but turn onto SR 3 in Sunbury and take that south. Use Schrock Rd (partially SR 710), I-270 or a combination to get to Worthington.

A route around the west of Columbus
1. Get on SR 56 WB in Circleville, take to US 42 EB. Use SR 161, US 33, SR 745, SR 257 or US 23 to get to the Columbus metro

[hbelkins]

1. If after 5:30-6, stay on the freeway, which becomes SR 161. Take SR 161 straight to Worthington or bail onto I-270.

Westbound (inbound) on 161 wouldn't be bad during rush, would it? I'd be going against the flow.

[cl94]

1. If after 5:30-6, stay on the freeway, which becomes SR 161. Take SR 161 straight to Worthington or bail onto I-270.

Westbound (inbound) on 161 wouldn't be bad during rush, would it? I'd be going against the flow.

You'd be fine until you're inside 270. 270-1/2 mile west of 71 is 4-lane divided with frontage roads and signals every 1/5 mile or so, won't be too bad except for volume. West of there is 2 lane and can get congested. You could cut up Busch Blvd (SR 710) and use back roads if your hotel is near 270/23 on the north side. 270 is generally congested on the north side and will be until the projects north of 161 are finished. If you stay somewhere in Westerville, you'd be exiting 161 or 270 before the trouble spots.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Google maps has a "typical traffic" layer on it's maps that might be of assistance to you in planning your trip.  you can access it by clicking the "live traffic" button on the legend on the lower part of the screen.  Here is typical traffic at 5:20 on a friday:

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Trying to figure out if I want to stay in the Grove City area on Friday night and then drive across town to the meet Saturday morning, or stay on the north side of town and be closer to the meet.

The fact that I'll be driving up Friday afternoon and will want to avoid evening rush across town will play a role in my decision unless someone can offer a good suggestion on how to get from the US 23 area on the south side of town to the Worthington area in the afternoon without encountering a traffic nightmare.

I'll keep it simple for you. Just follow US 23/High St. north through Columbus.

[bandit957]

I don't think I can make it, because I'm not this big ball of energy.

[Brandon]

I'll be there, driving in and out Saturday.

[hbelkins]

I'll keep it simple for you. Just follow US 23/High St. north through Columbus.

It won't be dog-knotted with traffic, especially downtown?

[cl94]

I'll keep it simple for you. Just follow US 23/High St. north through Columbus.

It won't be dog-knotted with traffic, especially downtown?

It will be, hence why I didn't suggest you go that way. US 23 is better than High Street (it's a couple blocks east from I-70 to Morse Rd), but it's still miserable.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I'll keep it simple for you. Just follow US 23/High St. north through Columbus.

It won't be dog-knotted with traffic, especially downtown?

You are going against flow till you get past Broad St. And even then, you have a couple of blocks before traffic becomes a mess (starting at Nationwide Blvd).

You could stay on High St. north to Long St. east to Cleveland Ave north to 5th Ave west to 4th St north to Hudson St west back to High St. north on to Worthington.
Is this free flowing on a Friday night? Hell, no! Will you be stuck in gridlock? Hell, no! (Now overturn a semi on any of the freeways and all bets are off).

That said, if timing is of the essence, just spend the night in Grove City. It'll be a twenty to thirty minute drive up to Polaris/Westerville in the morning with no potential issues along I-71.

[Brandon]

Traffic?  It's Columbus, not Chicago for Pete's sake.

[hbelkins]

Traffic?  It's Columbus, not Chicago for Pete's sake.

You forget just how impatient I am with traffic. Trying to get out of Frankfort at 4:30 is aggravating enough for me.

[froggie]

In fairness, HB, this is something that you're just going to have to live/deal with if you ever pop out of southeastern Kentucky.  If you can't deal with it, perhaps you shouldn't go.

[hbelkins]

In fairness, HB, this is something that you're just going to have to live/deal with if you ever pop out of southeastern Kentucky.  If you can't deal with it, perhaps you shouldn't go.

Southeastern Kentucky isn't immune to it. Sometimes I wonder where all the traffic that can be found along KY 15 in Jackson is coming from. Believe it or not, I've sat in half-mile backups more times than I care to count.

[A.J. Bertin]

Hey Nikolai - when do you need a final decision from everyone about whether we're definitely attending or not?

[Nikolai]

Hey Nikolai - when do you need a final decision from everyone about whether we're definitely attending or not?

A couple days before the meet should suffice.

[Duke87]

Already mentioned on FB, but - I'll be there.

So will my 3DS, by the way (it goes everywhere with me).

[US71]

99 percent unlikely, unless a miracle occurs. Want to, but unlikely.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Tentative forecast for Saturday....
65 and partly sunny. 10-15% chance of showers in the morning.
We'll see if this holds forth.

[hbelkins]

That said, if timing is of the essence, just spend the night in Grove City. It'll be a twenty to thirty minute drive up to Polaris/Westerville in the morning with no potential issues along I-71.

I opted to reserve in Grove City for a variety of reasons. But I'll probably come up 315 instead of staying on 71. I've driven both in the past and prefer 315.

Planned route is US 23 north to the state route that turns left off 23 somewhere south of I-270 (665, I think) to 104 to Stringtown Road. I can't foresee any real advantage to taking 104 all the way north out of Portsmouth. That route was recommended to me several years ago as an alternative to 23, for reasons long-forgotten, and I ended up getting a speeding ticket on 104.