According to MORPC (page 3) ODOT (formerly known as ODOH, the Ohio Department of Highways) reports it is going to be facing $3.5 billion in a near-future deficit. Add to that the ever-rising cost and lower output of oil production and the huge negative impact putting cars first has had on Downtown and its neighborhoods, it is very clear what should be done to fix the split.

What should happen

Reclaim the space with a boulevard, and not the eight-lane, anti-urban monstrosity the city wanted. Forget about caps, this will go much further by adding much more develop-able land that can be used for residential and business purposes, in other words, bring in more money to the city by pursuing the restoration of the street grid of Downtown with the Brewery District, German Village, Schumacher Place, Olde Towne East and King Lincoln. I wrote to ODOT in vain about what Milwaukee did by replacing a highway that cut through the city with a boulevard that has been successful. It was nearly a mile that was torn down which is approximately the same length and replaced with streets. A new bridge was included and all that was for $45 million (in 2004). Even now doing the equivalent for the split would certainly pale in comparison to the $1billion price tag to “fix” it, with each interchange reworking costing a couple hundred million each and in addition to that all the millions that would be needed for caps.

Before

After

ODOT replied and said that the boulevard wouldn’t be able to handle the same amount of traffic. Of course it wouldn’t, and that’s the point. Not to mention they’re the one who screwed up already by having the highway go through the city instead of around it. I-70 should’ve gone down along I-71 from the west east to 104 and connect to an eastern section of I-70 that didn’t wall off and isolate neighborhoods.

Map

(Funny thing, they actually were considering rerouting I-70 on a nearly identical route, see page 18 of the study. However, they state on page 32 that an arterial boulevard re-routing to 104 vs a highway there didn’t meet any criteria, including safety)

If ODOT really cares about reducing the 27% of all vehicular accidents in Franklin County that occur on this stretch, then they should be pushing for the boulevard. But what about the insane amount of traffic, won’t this be a disaster? Surprisingly, the answer would be “no”. Milwaukee actually saw car traffic that simply disappeared and did not reappear on alternate routes, which means people simply found other ways to get around, whether by bus, bike, or their own two feet. The same phenomenon occurred in San Francisco where an earthquake tore down a stretch of highway that was reclaimed for people instead of cars and similarly, the fall of New York City’s West Side Highway in 1973. Not only that but we have plenty of highway alternatives such as 670, 270, and 315. Obviously, ODOT is not sophisticated enough to understand the concept of induced traffic which has been documented all over this country and demonstrates that traffic will only follow if you build it. Even the split itself is an excellent example. In fact, my ground-level boulevard alternative to the split is the best in delivering what local communities want, which according to the study is a solution that;

• Minimizes environmental impacts
• Improves neighborhood connectivity
• Improves safety
• Maintains good access and traffic flow into
and out of downtown
• Provides safe EMS access
• Aesthetically attractive

I realize that this is an interstate highway as opposed to the one used as an example in Milwaukee and therefore probably would face more difficulties by involving the state instead of just the city, but what is more important; our city or just making it easy for people to drive through it? In any case, they could always put up signs and divert traffic to Rt 315 and I-670 if motorists don’t want to take a detour that would, god forbid, add a few minutes to their drive, and just look at how much money we’d save. Or we can just blow a billion or so to ensure that cars come first over all else.