Living near enough to it to have a slight interest, I’ve casually followed the news on the 70/71 split. I don’t use that portion of the freeways much at all, so I’ve been more interested in aesthetics than the usability. The only portion of reconstruction that will affect me is problem of getting around the added traffic that will be redirected onto nearby surface streets.
I’m now of the belief that the 70/71 spit redesign/reconstruction should end. One billion dollars could be better spent to build a more comprehensive public transportation system for the region. One billion dollars is simply too much to invest in aiding the use of the private automobile.
London now requires drivers to pay a ₤5 per day fee to drive within the most congested areas of the city. Singapore and Paris have similar fees and both San Francisco and New York are considering similar plans. While caliber of Columbus is not nearly that of these cities, perhaps the congestion “tax” merely becomes a “pay per use” concept. Those unwilling to modify their commute by using a better public transportation system will pay the price by idling in near stand-still traffic. Eventually it will become cost-ineffective for commuters and that’s essentially what a congestion tax provides.
One billion dollars could be also be used to redevelop acres of urban housing that would give more people more options to be closer to where they work. A few miles on public transit from a nearby vibrant neighborhood makes far better sense than a forty or fifty-mile daily commute. A short commute from an in-town neighborhood can be accomplished on a bicycle easily.
A transportation budget that does not address the root cause of congestion is a pure waste of money and spending one billion dollars on a project that encourages greater ease of use for automobiles only exacerbates the problem. Ohio and Columbus should be smarter than that.
Keep in mind that this is THE number one most dangerous bit of highway in the entire state, averaging three crashes per day on that little one-mile stretch of road.
I believe Eric at Cap City Savvy once suggested that they drop the speed limit to 45 through the split to reduce accidents. I think that would probably help without a huge monetary investment.
This is totally politically-based. The general public still believes that the best way to reduce congestion is more roads, despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
I think this may be one of the most irate posts you’ve had Jeff
I personally like the idea of spending the money on public transit infrastructure. I don’t see lowered speed limits making a big difference due to the fact that most people totally ignore speed limits in areas such as this. I agree that something needs to be done to the 70/71 split but the current plan just seems awful. The money is an issue for me but it is more about what we’ll get (or not get) for the $1B than the fact that it is $1B. We should be getting caps that heal the scar instead of increased surface traffic. We should also be getting a few short runs of light rail to help eleviate the traffic instead of provide for the traffic.
Anyhow, preaching + choir. Talk to you all soon!