By Mark Ferenchik and Kimball Perry, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – After four years of orange barrels, changing traffic patterns and congestion, the main projects of the “mega fix” at Interstate 270 and Route 23 on the Far North Side will be done by Saturday, ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
Update: Ramps are NOT OPENING tomorrow on the North Side Mega Fix. Cold and wet weather pushes the opening back to Tuesday morning, Nov. 21. https://t.co/WP5YhsvF8S pic.twitter.com/sduGFUK08T
— ODOT Columbus (@ODOT_Columbus) November 17, 2017
The final ramps to open will be from southbound Rt. 23 to westbound I-270, and from northbound Rt. 23 to westbound I-270 and Rt. 315, said Chuck Kiner, the Ohio Department of Transportation engineer overseeing the project. The ramps are to open at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, weather permitting.
The new ramp and bridge to I-270 west goes over traffic exiting at Rt. 315. That untangles roads that contributed to traffic congestion and crashes.
There will be a new traffic pattern on U.S. Route 23 south approaching I-270. The far right southbound lane will be for SR 315 traffic only. The lane left of that will be for traffic headed to I-270 (above right).
Northbound traffic on U.S. Route 23 (High Street) coming from Worthington uses the existing ramp but the ramp splits under U.S. 23. Traffic headed to state Route 315 will stay right, while traffic going to I-270 west will continue straight. The new ramp and bridge to I-270 west goes over traffic exiting at SR 315 (left), which eliminates weaving traffic.
These are the last two ramps to open at the I-270/US 23 interchange (above), which means construction of the $69 million North Side Mega Fix project is nearing completion except for final paving.
The total price tag for the four years of work is $148 million, which is $6 million more than the original estimate of $142 million.
Commuters and other travelers knew that something had to be done to improve the outdated interchange. About 180,000 vehicles now pass through it on the Outerbelt each day, and Rt. 23 handles 90,000 vehicles daily.
Exploding growth in southern Delaware County created traffic backups from I-270 east to Rt. 23 north. Traffic volumes had increased by more than 20 percent since 2001.
“The interchange was not designed for that amount of traffic,” Kiner said.