The splitting of East Ohio Street is an interesting dilemma. This is one block north of the recently reconnected Market Street, which is featured in this post. Below is an aerial shot of this split.
The split is in place both to divert traffic on to the interstate and to avoid an at-grade railroad crossing. Here’s what the crossing looks like from street level on the east side:
The question I have is this: would it be worth the investment to reconnect Ohio Street under the interstate?
Seems valid. If you look at the train tracks as a dividing barrier like the freeway, then it would help open up the near east side to DT. Perhaps spur some movement of people in that area.
Not only would it be wise to connect Ohio under the interstates, but Davidson and Pine should also be connected across the tracks. That would create a true frontage system on the east side between Michigan and Washington. I screamed about that when they first announced the new Washington on/off ramp plan.
I wondered if this would get done as part of the Market St. ramp removal, and agree with Chris about needing a pair of frontage streets downtown along the raised interstate.
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It seems to me that Ohio, Davidson and Pine could all be connected with a single-point combined intersection/RR crossing under the I-65/70 overpass. Integrating the traffic and train signals shouldn’t be too complicated, as it’s done several places along Mass Ave.
There is a very large bridge support under I-65/70 directly between Ohio St. east and west of the divide and probably very expensive to reconfigure that. But connecting Pine and Davidson would be reasonable and have a more powerful effect on recreating a useable street grid in this area. Remove of the Ohio St. southbound exit ramp and divert traffic exiting I-65/70 to the ramp at Michigan. Ohio St. traveling eastbound would still be able to connect to Pine St. and needed to allow access to the northbound insterstates.
This would do a lot to benefit the area between College and I-65 making realestate more accessible, removing some of the traffic from College, and allowing College to be converted to a 2 way street. Probably minimal impact at rush hour getting traffic from DT to the interstate, but Pine and Davidson would need to remain one way streets – though not 4 lanes wide as I believe Pine is for a stretch. Best yet the neighborhoods of Holy Cross, Cottage Home, Lockerbie, Cole Noble, and Mass Ave district would take another step toward functioning as integrated places to live and do business. I would also like to see Pine extended all the way up to St. Clair for those heading toward Cottage Home or neighborhoods north of Arsenal Tech.
True about the structural support, although I think it could be worked around with some creativity. I like everyone’s idea to connect Pine and Davidson.
Why not use the space under the interstates for a train stop on the NE Corridor line?
That is an intriguing idea! I like it.
I take this bend to work everyday on my morning commute, so I’m familiar with it. I’m still thrilled to have Market St. reconnected since the ramp construction began two years ago. It is such a convenience to avoid interstate congestion on Washington St.
Of course I would love to have Ohio St. connected to downtown. I actually live on 1400 block of Ohio St., AND I work at 450 W. Ohio St. 🙂 I would essentially take one straight shot to and from work. It would definitely connect downtown with the NearEast (isn’t that the new name for the near eastside?).
Maybe it would be beneficial to develop the Coles Noble District before we focused on another access point to the neighborhoods. It doesn’t really seem like that space has been defined yet. Although the construction looks beautiful (new sidewalks, lots of benches and flower stands) there are just a few businesses, a few residences that seem to stand alone and a lot of displaced people wandering about the area. I’m not sure what sort of zoning exists around Market St., but I could see it becoming a hip little spot for some mom-and-pop shops and restaurants. If that part of town received some attention, perhaps the city would pump some money into connecting Ohio St. as well.
My only real concern is that since Market St. has been reconnected to downtown, we’ve had quite an increase in commercial semis driving through our neighborhoods and tearing up curbs. I know that makes me sound crotchedy, but if you’ve ever seen a semi truck make a 3-point turn onto Oriental St., you’d feel my pain.