| When Cincinnati’s Fort Washington Way (I-70 and US 50)
opened in the early 1960s it could safely accommodate 90,000 vehicles
per day. By the 1990s, this major downtown artery was carrying more
than 120,000 vehicles each day. Heavy traffic congestion, dangerous
weaves and pedestrian safety were quickly becoming problems during
rush hour and times of special downtown events.
In 1995, the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana Council of Governments (OKI)
conducted a major investment study (MIS) for improvements to Fort
Washington Way. Twenty five alternatives were developed by the project’s
many stakeholders in highly collaborative process and evaluated
based on several factors—land use, pedestrian access, potential
for riverfront development, local access, safety, and overall roadway
performance.
Five proposed alternatives were studied further, leading to the
selection of a well-supported, locally preferred alternative. The
City of Cincinnati, as agent for Ohio Department of Transportation
then selected PB to serve as program manager for the $146 million
reconstruction.
Figure 1. Fort Washington Way before(left) reconstruction and
after(right). |
Figure 2: Artist’s rendition illustrating connectivity
to riverfront area and two new stadiums. |
Figure 3. Cross-sectional view showing multi-modal transit
station below ground. |
Sustainability Built In
The ways in which we achieved sustainability in some of the major
project elements are described below.
Improved Pedestrian Access. The new design improves
access to Cincinnati’s riverfront by reducing the width of
the highway trench and providing a more pedestrian-friendly connections
from the downtown. New bridges at Main, Walnut, Vine, Race and Elm
Streets have wider sidewalks and at-grade pedestrian connections
to the riverfront, are significantly shorter, and were designed
to enhance the pedestrian experience.
Less Room Devoted To Highway. Reduction of the
overall width of the highway resulted in the reclamation of 75-m
to 90-m (250-foot to 300-foot) –wide area) between Elm and
Sycamore streets, provided an additional 15-20 acres of land in
Cincinnati’s riverfront area for future development, and allowed
for increased flexibility for development south of the new Fort
Washington Way. As examples, the new National Underground Railroad
Freedom Center, which will be located on land formerly occupied
by Fort Washington Way, will serve as a catalyst for urban renewal
in the downtown area along the Ohio River. Two new sports stadiums
and a new riverfront park will also be built in this area.
A New Gateway to Cincinnati. The reconstruction
of Fort Washington Way provided a unique opportunity to rebuild
Cincinnati’s historic connection to the Ohio River and to
create a new and monumental gateway to Cincinnati from the interstate
highway system (Figure 1). These goals were achieved by the construction
of five new bridges across the narrowed Fort Washington Way. The
three center bridges accommodate generous sidewalks and landscaping.
The two end bridges at Elm and Main have cable suspended pedestrian
structures to provide vertical landmarks at either end of the project,
and incorporate the light cannon (search light) features previously
developed as part of the Cincinnati Gateway Program.
The five blocks between these landmark bridges are treated with
unique light fixtures, sculptural benches and special paving, and
are planted with double rows of trees to create a grand civic entrance
to Cincinnati. Second and Third Streets have become a pair of grand
boulevards where residents and visitors alike can easily orient
themselves to the downtown, new stadiums, a riverfront entertainment
district, and riverside open space.
Riverfront Transit Center. Originally the newly
created Second Street was to be constructed on an earth embankment
that would serve as flood protection for the Fort Washington Way
road trench. As design for riverfront development continued, however,
it was determined that existing transit infrastructure had to be
demolished, so Second Street was redesigned to accommodate a multi-modal
transit station below (Figure 2). It included an 8-m (26-foot) -wide
sidewalk on a multi-functional bridge that could accommodate future
light rail anywhere on the top portion of the structure and still
function as the ceiling of the future multi-modal transit station
below. The design incorporated arched precast girders, or tees,
that support the bridge deck and are an architectural highlight
of the transit center below.
As a result of this project, local transit agencies will see significant
operational improvements. With the addition of the new transit center,
Cincinnati Metro and the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky
(TANK) will be able to reduce the 90 minutes it takes to transport
90,000 people to or from Cincinnati’s riverfront to approximately
45 minutes. In addition, the new transit center will be safer for
downtown pedestrians because they will be on Second Street above
and separated from bus traffic.
Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO). A CSO system added
as the project progressed resulted in cost savings of $20 million
to the City of Cincinnati because it was done in conjunction with
construction of the Fort Washington Way project. The CSO will serve
approximately 410 acres of property extending beyond the riverfront
and several blocks into the downtown area, and is expected to limit
the number of times sewage mixed with storm water overflows into
the Ohio River from approximately 149 times each year to less than
five. It is designed to carry the “100-year storm,”
an improvement from the original design.
Future Deck. Portions of the area over the Fort
Washington Way roadway trench were considered for public use in
the future so foundation work that could support a future deck was
incorporated, greatly facilitating the exercise of this option.
By using a precast girder design similar to the new cross-bridges,
the deck can be constructed with little disruption to the central
business district or to traffic. This investment will substantially
reduce the cost of actual construction if the deck is installed.
Schedule Innovations. One of the largest social
and economic considerations of the Fort Washington Way reconfiguration
program was the schedule. The public wanted us to get the job done
as quickly as possible. A normal schedule for a project of this
scope would be three years for design and property acquisition,
and six more years for construction. A typical compressed schedule
would be two years for design and three years for construction.
Instead, the entire project was to be completed by August 2000,
less than three years from start of design to opening the roadway
for traffic.
Conclusion
The transportation goals of the region were met in a way that met
the triple bottom line considerations. None of this would have been
possible, however, without adequate funding and cooperation among
stakeholders. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), ODOT,
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, City of Cincinnati,
Hamilton County and Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA)
forged a partnership to accomplish the funding goal. It was the
first time that funds from KYTC were used on an Ohio project.
In addition, cooperation among reviewing agencies was extremely
important. We used a fast-track design review process where ODOT
and KYTC participated in every step to keep the project on its fast-track
schedule of less than three years.
Another critical factor was that construction managers and designers
on the project team participated in an interactive continuous design/constructibility
interface process. The construction managers constantly challenged
the designers to make their designs faster, easier and cheaper to
build, and the designers accepted these challenges.
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