Any talk of removing I-75/ 71 from Downtown area? (Dayton, Hamilton: train, title)

[Ohiogirl81]

When Fort Washington Way was being reconstructed, there were suggestions of rerouting 71 over 471 and 275.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

When Fort Washington Way was being reconstructed, there were suggestions of rerouting 71 over 471 and 275.

Hmmm...that's not a bad idea, either. The fact is, no matter what, the B.S. bridge needs to be replaced. It's STILL a white-knuckled experience, even for this trained professional.

[UKUKUK]

If we're talking about splitting them earlier, how about even further back, like Florence? Then you have more room to do the large interchange that would require, as well as less of an impact on the beautiful hills of the area.

[UKUKUK]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

Hmmm...that's not a bad idea, either. The fact is, no matter what, the B.S. bridge needs to be replaced. It's STILL a white-knuckled experience, even for this trained professional.

Well maybe it just is the smallness of my car or that I'm young and brave, but I never felt challenged crossing the bridge

[Cincy-Rise]

There are much-much better plans available than widening 75/71 and encroaching on Downtown. Downtowns don't die because you remove a freeway - they died because of the freeway. Let's make sure we're fact-checking before posting non-sense. Also, there's a reason why cities are starting to re-route or burry these god-awful concrete eyesores.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

There are much-much better plans available than widening 75/71 and encroaching on Downtown. Downtowns don't die because you remove a freeway - they died because of the freeway. Let's make sure we're fact-checking before posting non-sense. Also, there's a reason why cities are starting to re-route or burry these god-awful concrete eyesores.

So true. Responding to other recent comments, I lived in Lexington during the entire time of downtown's demise. Meaning that when I moved there, there was plenty of retail, movie theaters, restaurants, financial institutions, etc. Building an interstate through the middle of it at that time certainly would have been equivalent to putting it in front of a firing squad. But gradually the city fathers began to do everything humanly possible to encourage suburban sprawl. Once they'd succeeded into turning downtown into a ghost town, they grasped desperately onto a couple of "big fix" projects (including the ludicrous Festival Market), which never work. Downtown will never be what it once was, but it's marginally on the way back from its complete bottom in the 1980s.

[spence425]

Originally Posted by unusualfire

Just so everyone knows. It slows below the speed limit SEVERAL times a day.

and by that i'm assuming you mean that it only reaches the speed limit several times a day. traveling through on 75/71 is a joke.

[UKUKUK]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

There are much-much better plans available than widening 75/71 and encroaching on Downtown. Downtowns don't die because you remove a freeway - they died because of the freeway. Let's make sure we're fact-checking before posting non-sense. Also, there's a reason why cities are starting to re-route or burry these god-awful concrete eyesores.

They died because the freeway made living/conducting business outside of dense areas viable.

The freeway provides access to downtown, removing it only makes it harder to get there.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by ckzona

I am not too familiar with the area, but i read on another forum they were thinking about capping the freeway that splits Downtown from The banks. Said something like maybe having a park or some low rise buildings.

When they redid Ft. Washington Way, then-mayor Charlie Luken pushed hard to spend additional money on the reconstruction to put in the foundations and infrastructure to turn it into a tunnel. The work was done, so if they are so inclined, FWW could "disappear" from the downtown landscape.

[Ohiogirl81]

The work was done, so if they are so inclined, FWW could "disappear" from the downtown landscape.

Fort Washington Way doesn't bother me in the least, either as a pedestrian or a motorist. What's the difference whether the riverfront is separated from downtown by bridges, or by a tunnel? You can walk over either one. Granted a tunnel, with a park or low-rise buildings above, would be more pleasant to look at, but as far as riverfront access, it's six of one, half-dozen of the other.