Ohio's interstate highway system is approaching 50 years old, and many highways are reaching the end of their
designed lives. Commercial truck traffic alone had grown 90% in the last quarter-century and is estimated to grow another 60% by 2020. This forced ODOT to create a statewide plan to address congestion issues as well as the repair of aging interstate highways.
Cleveland Urban Core projects In August 2000, ODOT began the
Cleveland Innerbelt Study to develop a comprehensive strategy to rebuild portions of
Interstate 71,
Interstate 77, and
Interstate 90 into downtown
Cleveland. The focus of the project is reducing inner-city congestion, replacing or repairing older sections of the freeway system, and improving the safety of the system. Of particular interest to ODOT is the safety of the Cleveland Innerbelt and
Dead Man's Curve, both of which experience an accident rate higher than the national average. In addition, ODOT plans to construct a new single-tower
cable-stayed bridge north of the current bridge for westbound traffic on Interstate 90 over the
Cuyahoga River Valley. Construction was originally planned for 2009, though resistance from some citizens in the community has put the entire project in question. Complaints have been raised over the plan to build the new bridge north of the current span over the Cuyahoga River, mostly due to the effect the construction would have on day-to-day life and the loss of historical buildings and landmarks. In addition, complaints have been raised about the cost of the project, which has been raised from the original $800 million to $1.5 billion. While the cost of the plan is mostly the construction of two new bridges over fifteen years, many in the community feel the rehabilitation of the existing bridges would be more cost-effective. An unofficial estimate for bridge rehabilitation puts the cost at $268 million, or $366 million for the entire
innerbelt project.
Dayton area projects Interstate 75 through Downtown
Dayton was upgraded and modernized over ten years. Construction included widening Interstate 75 from Neva Drive through
U.S. 35 in Dayton to three through lanes as well as added lanes for exiting. Also, a new interchange at
Route 4 and Interstate 75 was constructed as part of the project. As part of another phase in the project, ODOT modified the U.S. 35 interchange to provide three continuous lanes in each direction on I‑75. All of the phases of this construction will be done at an estimated cost of $533 million. Construction of the last phase was completed in 2016. On February 26, 2009, the state of Ohio awarded a contract for $22 million to construct an interchange at Austin Boulevard and Interstate 75 in
Springboro, Ohio, in southern Montgomery County. Construction on the interchange began in April 2009 and was completed in July 2010. As part of the project, ODOT reconstructed the intersection of
SR 741 and Miamisburg-Springboro Pike by widening lanes and adding a two-leg Displaced Left Turn (DLT)
continuous flow intersection.
Columbus Crossroads Project Another large-scale project ODOT is spearheading is the I‑70/I‑71 South Innerbelt Corridor Project, a multifaceted plan to reduce congestion in downtown Columbus along with the convergence of
Interstate 70 and Interstate 71. Commonly known as "the downtown split", the region regularly experiences heavy traffic and is the site of 27% of all traffic accidents along I‑70 and I‑71 in Franklin County. To reduce traffic and accidents, as well as remove the confusion of getting on or off the freeway, the downtown split project will add lanes to the freeway in both directions, widen Mound and Fulton streets, and convert them to one-way,
collector/distributor streets, and move the current on/off-ramps to facilitate better
traffic flow. The project cost around $800 million and began in 2011.
Freeway caps In addition to freeway construction, ODOT, along with the
Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), and the city of Columbus are discussing the possibility of several
freeway caps over portions of I-70 and I-71. These caps, similar to the one built on High Street over I-670, would be widened overpasses, creating a seamless transition between neighborhoods by adding businesses or parks to either side of the current overpass. While this will add considerable cost to the project, it is hoped that the freeway caps will link neighborhoods that were divided when the interstate highway system was put in. Twelve overpasses were originally looked at for freeway caps, though the list has been narrowed to six due to budget constraints. Each cap would cost anywhere between $2 million and $12 million depending on the complexity, and a total of $53 million to $62 million could be added to the project if all six are built. The Ohio Department of Transportation has pledged $10 million toward caps, $37 million for streetscape improvements in total, and the MORPC has pledged another $12 million for the caps. With the caps and other streetscape improvements added to the project, the total project cost is expected to reach $1 billion.
Veterans' Glass City Skyway In March 2002, ODOT began the largest single project in its history. Needing a replacement for the outdated Craig Memorial Bridge in
Toledo, the department initiated the
Veterans' Glass City Skyway project, with an estimated price tag of $234 million. The six-lane, single-tower
cable-stayed bridge design includes glass panels along with all four faces of the tower and
LEDs installed within, allowing for customizable lighting effects on the bridge. The original completion date was for May 2006, but the project was struck with a sixteen-month-long delay after an accident killed four workers on February 16, 2004. This delayed the initial opening of the skyway until June 24, 2007.
Northeast Expressway Transformation The
Northeast Expressway Transformation (NExT) project, which began on June 14, 2004, marked another significant undertaking by ODOT as the largest single highway project ever in central Ohio. It included rebuilding the
State Route 161 interchanges at Interstate 270 and Sunbury Road, including 17 bridges, 18 ramps, and five miles (8 km) of the highway. The original intersections at I-270 and Sunbury Road were designed to handle 58,000 and 21,000 vehicles per day, respectively, but daily loads had surpassed 135,000 at I-270 and 90,000 at Sunbury Road. By 2020 loads are estimated to be approaching 200,000 vehicles per day at both interchanges. To meet and exceed current traffic needs, the project replaced three of the four
cloverleaf ramps at I-270 with two flyover ramps and one "fly under" tunnel, reconfigured the Sunbury Road exit into a modified
single-point urban interchange (SPUI), and add through lanes for both I-270 and SR-161. The project was completed in the fall of 2008.
Other studies/projects Other studies include the
Toledo I-75/I-475 Interchange Study, the
North Central Outerbelt Study (
I-270), the
Akron Central Interchange Project (
I-76). and the
U.S. 35 Corridor Major Investment Study (MIS). ==Department management==