Ohio Department of Transportation Employee Newsletter July 2006

(see INTERSTATE CONVOY on page 2)

NATIONAL CONVOY CROSSES OHIOCaravan Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Interstate System

Lindsay Mendicino, Central Office

THE YEAR 2006 MARKS THE 50TH AN-niversary of the federal law that brought America its unparalleled

interstate system. This 46,000-mile web of superhighways has transformed our nation and our economy. Ohio is a vital part of this system and has long been a leader in interstate construction.

“Since its creation at the beginning of the 20th century, through the construc-tion of the Inter-County highway system to the creation of the interstate and ur-ban freeways, the Ohio Department of Transportation has changed in response to changes in its mission, societal goals

Photos b

y Jennifer Richmon

d, D

-4

tion was a reenactment of the cross-coun-try military convoy that traveled the Lin-coln Highway in 1919. This trip, led by Dwight D. Eisenhower, was a key factor that later influenced Eisenhower’s vision of a national interstate system.

AASHTO and state departments of transportation around the country em-barked on a reenactment of this convoy on June 16, traveled from west to east, and ended at zero milepost in Washing-ton D.C. on June 30 – the anniversary day on which the highway bill creating the system was signed into law.

“We retraced the route of the 1919

and technology,” said ODOT Director Gordon Proctor. “Our interstate system has come a long way in 50 years, but we are now at a crossroads as we work to face the challenges that 21st century traffic and needs have placed on our in-frastructure.”

It has been 102 years since the General Assembly created Ohio’s “State High-way Department” with four employees and a $10,000 annual budget. From those modest beginnings, the department has grown to construct and maintain the sev-enth largest road system in the nation with the fifth highest volume of traffic and the nation’s fourth largest interstate highway network.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the interstates, ODOT was

one of several state trans-portation departments

coordinating with the American

A s s o c i a -tion of State H i g h w a y and Trans-p o r t a t i o n O f f i c i a l s (AASHTO)

as part of a nationwide celebra-

tion.The highlight of the celebra-

2 TRANSCRIPT, JULY 2006

INTERSTATE CONVOY (from page 1)

convoy to mark the contrast from the hardships of 1919 to the freedom we en-joy today to travel where and when we want. That mobility did not come about by accident – it’s a legacy from President Dwight David Eisenhower and the men and women who built this transportation system,” said John Horsley, executive director of AASHTO.

“What we’ve learned along the way is that Americans really do value that free-dom, and they want to be sure we do what is needed today so that their kids and grandkids have the same access to good jobs, good schools, and a better quality of life that the interstate has made available to all of us today,” he said.

Making the journey from San Fran-cisco to Washington, D.C., the convoy crossed 13 states, with 18 major stops in a period of 14 days. “What we saw as we crossed America was a far dif-ferent world than that of 1919, and even of 1956 when the Federal-aid Highway Act providing the funding for the sys-tem was enacted. Where they struggled through mud, destroyed 88 bridges and literally pulled heavy vehicles across the Salt Lake Desert by hand, we traveled in comfort – 60 miles per hour, compared to their average speed of only six,” said Gary Ridley, chairman of the AASHTO steering committee that organized the trip, and director of the Oklahoma De-

Andrew Firestone II emceed the cross-country reenactment convoy event held June 26 on the front lawn of the Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire head-quarters in Akron. Event speakers included (left to right) Ralph Burchfield and Dr. Hiroshi Mouri from Bridgestone Firestone; Donald Plusquellic, Mayor of Akron; John Horsley, AASHTO Executive Director; and Gordon Proctor, ODOT Director.

partment of Transportation.The convoy stopped in Akron, Ohio

on June 26. Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC was a national spon-sor of the convoy and hosted a celebration event when it arrived in Akron. ODOT’s director Proctor was one of the keynote speakers at the event. AASHTO repre-sentatives and members of the convoy, including Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, the great grandson of Dwight D. Eisen-hower and Andrew Firestone II, also spoke at the event.

All were gathered to celebrate 50 years since the inception of the interstates as well as highlight the state’s needs to continue to provide safe, modern and efficient highway connections for the future.

“There is no bet-ter time to high-light the needs of our interstate sys-tem,” said Proc-tor. “The benefits of the interstate system have been profound for Ohio and for America. We must use this opportunity to celebrate how far our highways have come as well as to look toward the future to ensure that we main-tain and improve our highways to serve future needs.”

Before the Interstate Highways:

Ohio was Shaped by Travel Ron Poole, Central Office

TO TRULY APPRECIATE HOW IMPORTANT the interstate system is to Ohio, all you have to do is think about how

people traveled in the days before the era of cars and modern highways.

If you wanted to get to the Ohio Val-ley in 1788, you most likely walked or rode along primitive routes across the mountains of Pennsylvania to the Ohio River. You would then follow the river to a new settlement. But if you wanted to travel across the river to points be-yond, you would use any of the more than 1,000 miles of twisting overland paths and wagon trails in Ohio. No easy task: these winding trails were narrow and muddy.

If you were a man living in the Ohio territory after 1792, you probably helped build new roads: the Northwest Territo-ries Act of 1792 required all able-bodied men age 16 years or older to spend at least 10 days a year doing road construc-tion. Travel improved with the coming of Zane’s Trace, the first federally-aided road commissioned by Congress in 1796.

This was a dirt pack trail measuring 20 feet across to allow wagon trains to pass. Following Zane’s Trace, the National Road was authorized to run through Ohio in 1805.

Your commute along the National Road would be shared with Conestoga wag-ons and stagecoaches hauling settlers and

their possessions to new places. Since it was a toll road, if you were short on cash, you had to pay with whatever you had: potatoes, apples, meat or grain. From

(see BEFORE INTERSTATES on page 3)

TRANSCRIPT, JULY 2006 3

city streets, such as early hot-mix asphalt roadways or streets laid with brick.

Paved streets came just in time for the mass production of the automobile in 1901. This brought new freedom to per-sonal travel and for moving commercial goods. But travels by auto beyond cities and towns were not easy: in comparison to city streets, rural roads in Ohio were muddy and impassable during bad rain-storms. It would be both the demand for more personal travel freedom and for bet-ter connections between farms and their markets that would lead to developing better state roads, and ultimately, to the modern interstates.

Making your way within Ohio has changed over the course of two centuries, but the same desires for new vistas and experiences drive travelers now as they did in the past, just as ODOT has worked to change and update Ohio’s transporta-tion system with changes in modes of transportation, technology and the needs of the state.

How the Interstates Took Shape

IT IS EASY TO THINK THE IDEA FOR THE IN-terstate system was developed during the early 1950s. But like so many true

1806 to 1818, private companies in Ohio began to create more toll roads or “turn-pikes.” But even with good roads, travel was a long term proposition. In the 1800s it took 24 hours for a stagecoach to travel 46 miles from Columbus to Chillicothe.

Your options for travel increased as Ohio became a state in 1803. Settlers and immigrants with money to begin new businesses were moving to the state and there was a increase in the shipment of farm goods and raw materials from the state. The Ohio River offered a way to quickly move these goods to markets. By 1818, you could buy a ticket on the first Ohio steamboat. The river soon hosted barges and smaller boats moving both goods and people.

But travelers also needed a viable way to move into the northern parts of Ohio or beyond to Indiana, Michigan or Illinois. In 1825, the state began constructing two inland canal systems. With the Ohio and Erie system completed in 1834 and the Miami and Erie system in 1845, you could now travel about 1,000 miles by ca-nal and reach nearly every major city and settlement in Ohio. Toledo, Cleveland and Akron all flourished in commerce and trade as major canal points.

Then the railroads began to take center stage. Rail construction spread quickly, and by 1860 Ohio had more than 2,974 miles of track laid. Now you could travel to every community of substantial size in Ohio by railroad.

While the railroad dominated long range transportation in Ohio, traveling within expanding cities or over shorter distances was the province of the “horse and buggy.” Walking anywhere in your city meant you shared the road with horses pulling buckboards, surries, carts, expresses and hacks. Attention began to focus on improving city mass tran-sit. Electric street cars and interurban trolleys (an early form of mass transit between population centers) were ideal for citizens. By 1900 the state had 800 miles of track and 25 interurban lines in service. By that same year, all Ohio cities had “high type” or “all-weather” paved

The projected routes of the Interstate System as approved by the Federal Works Administration in 1947.

BEFORE INTERSTATES (from page 2)

(see INTERSTATES on page 4)

4 TRANSCRIPT, JULY 2006

1906 road construction in Franklin County.

50th

Annivers

ary of

Am

erica’s In

ters

tate

s –

Ohio

’s Timelin

e

1905The Ohio Department

of Highways (ODOH) begins operations on Feb.

15. The four-man office had a

$10,000 annual bud-get and was created to study the state’s roads and the science of road construction.

1919A United States military convoy makes a 62-day journey, July 7 - Sept. 6, from Washington, D.C. to the Presidio Army Base in California, with Lieutenant Dwight D. Eisenhower serv-ing as an observer. The delays to the convoy caused by inferior roads and bridges make an impression on the young army officer.

1933ODOH trains and organizes the first Ohio Highway Patrol to help prevent rising fatalities due to auto accidents. The first patrolmen assume their duties before the end of the year.

1945 General Dwight D. Eisenhower

sees the advantages of the “Reich-autobahn” or “National Auto Road” in Germany at the end of World War II.

1947ODOH has a record construction year, awarding 422 contracts and spending $38 million on new construction and $4 million on maintenance.

1954President Dwight D. Eisenhower makes

attaining a safe and adequate highway system a priority in his State of the Union Address on Jan. 7.

1956President Eisen-hower signs the Federal Aid High-way Act into law on June 29, creating a national system of highways 41,000 miles long.

1956The Ohio General Assembly passes a bill making the state speed limit 60 mph and increases the power of ODOH to purchase land for new highways.

1957ODOH officially begins construction of the 1,500 miles of the interstate system designated for the state in the Federal Aid Highway Act.

1957Work on the first interstate route under the highway bill begins in Columbus in October. ODOH enters into four con-tracts to build Interstate 71 from the northern part of the city to one mile north of U.S. Route 36 in Delaware County.

1958Ohio is ahead of most other states in building interstate highways — spend-ing more on roadway construction than New York or California.

1960Ohio is still ahead of schedule in its in-terstate construction program, with 522 miles of interstates open to the public.

1962Ohio has 684 miles of interstates open.

1965Federal funds are made available for highway beautification projects. ODOH takes a leading role in this national ini-tiative, creating a new Design Services D i v i s i o n t o oversee rest areas and land-scaping along thousands of miles of state and interstate roadways in Ohio.

1968President Rich-ard Nixon signs a new Federal

three north-south superhighways. Their report, “Toll Roads and Free Roads,” was made to Congress in 1939. The report concluded a system of toll roads could not support itself financially. Instead, the BPR advocated a 26,700-mile network of highways financed by both federal and state governments.

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roos-evelt appointed a National Interregional Highway Committee to study a need for

a national expressway system. Under the leadership of Public Roads Commis-sioner Thomas H. MacDonald, the com-mittee produced its report in January of 1944. Titled “Interregional Highways,” the report supported a system of 33,900 miles, plus an additional 5,000 miles of auxiliary urban routes.

A few years later, a system was autho-rized for designation by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944. The act called for

innovations, the highway plan evolved over a span of many years.

The first serious attempt to develop a national roadway system began in the late 1930s.

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1938 commissioned the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) to study the feasibility of a toll-fi-nanced system of three east-west and

INTERSTATES (from page 3)

Berm work on Interstate 75 in 1968.

TRANSCRIPT, JULY 2006 5

Aid Highway Act into law, re-authoriz-i n g m o r e than $4 bil-lion dollars to the highway fund and add-ing more than 1,400 miles to the system.

1970O h i o h a s m o r e t h a n 1,000 miles of

its planned interstates open.

1972Following a national trend to consoli-date different modes of transportation under one agency, ODOH officially be-comes the Ohio Department of Trans-portation (ODOT) in September.

1975Interstate 270 in Columbus is complet-ed.

1976Interstate 70 is completed through Ohio. It is the state’s major east/west corridor.

1987Ohio has more than 1,500 miles of inter-states within the state.

1991President George Bush signs the In-termodal Surface Transportation Act (ISTEA) into law in December. The act

authorizes a projected $155 billion na-tionally over the next six years for vari-ous transportation programs. The new provisions are expected to give ODOT, on average, about $700 million a year in matching funds to help with road con-struction.

1995ODOT introduces the State Transporta-tion Improvement Program (STIP); an objective points-scoring ranking sys-tem to decide what highway projects will be funded in a given year. Highway projects can be given priority based on satisfying the greatest needs of the state.

2000Ohio must plan to expand its 1960s transportation system to meet 21st cen-tury needs. Ohio’s interstate highways are approaching their 50th anniversary and are greatly in need of expansion and reconstruction. Truck traffic alone has grown 90 percent in the last 25 years and will grow in Ohio by at least another 60 percent in the next 20 years.

2001ODOT adopts the Organization-al Performance Index (OPI). The OPI creates a rating system for various aspects of the highway relating to maintenance, repair and overall condition. The de-partment uses the ratings to set statewide goals for roads all over Ohio and maintain inter-state highways at a consistent level of readiness.

2003Governor Bob Taft announces his histor-ic Jobs and Progress Plan – a $5 billion, 10-year initiaitive to rebuild Ohio’s ur-ban interstate networks, address high-crash locations and complete the state’s macro-corridors to connect rural areas.

2003The final project of the Interstate 670 Spring-Sandusky Interchange in Colum-bus opens, completing the originally planned interstate highway system in Ohio after almost 50 years of construc-tion.

2006ODOT is now responsible for the sev-enth largest highway system in the nation. Ohio’s highways have the fifth greatest volume of traffic; make up the fourth largest interstate system; have the third greatest value of truck freight and contain the second largest inven-tory of bridges.

designation of a national system of in-terstate highways, no longer than 40,000 miles and located in such a way to con-nect the principle metropolitan areas, cities and industrial centers in a direct as possible manner. The system was also supposed to connect routes of “continen-tal importance” to Canada and Mexico.

Commissioner MacDonald and Federal Works Administrator Philip B. Fleming announced selection of the first 37,700

miles on August 2, 1947. Full designation was to be completed in 1955. But the 1944 act authorized no funds to actually build or remake existing highways and no real progress was made.

Then, the Federal-Aid Highway Act was passed in 1952. For the first time, it authorized federal funding specifically for construction of a highway system. The problem here was the funding amount was only $25 million a year for fiscal

years (FY) 1954 and 1955. Legislation in 1954 authorized an additional $175 million annually for FY 1956 and 1957, but this did not offer long-term funding or support for such a system.

It was under President Eisenhower’s leadership that the questions of how to fund and support the system were finally resolved. The historic Federal-Aid

(see INTERSTATES on page 7)

First sign for Interstate 70 west of Springfield in Ohio.

Cuyahoga County Interstate 90 in 1969. This area is currently part of the Cleveland Inner-belt Study.

6 TRANSCRIPT, JULY 2006

BRIDGEPORT-WHEELING

STEUBENVILLE

NEWPHILADELPHIA

EASTLIVERPOOL

ST.CLAIRSVILLE

CADIZ

CARROLLTON

SALEM

DOVER

BELPREMCARTHUR

POMEROY

GALLIPOLIS

MARIETTA

WOODSFIELDCALDWELL

LOGAN

PARKERSBURG

HUNTINGTON

CHILLICOTHE

WAVERLY

GREENFIELD

HILLSBORO

GEORGETOWN

MT. ORAB

WESTUNION

JACKSON

PORTSMOUTH

WELLSTON

IRONTON

ASHLAND

HAMILTON

MIDDLETOWN

CINCINNATI

EATON

XENIA

HARRISON

SPRINGFIELD

BELLEFONTAINE

CELINA

GREENVILLEPIQUA

SIDNEY

ST.MARYS

TROY

URBANA

WAPAKONETA

LONDON

MARION

WASHINGTONC.H.

HEATH CAMBRIDGE

COSHOCTON

LANCASTER

MOUNTVERNON

NEW LEXINGTON

ZANESVILLE

NEWARK

SHARON

CANTON

ALLIANCE

ASHTABULA

CONNEAUT

CORTLAND

GENEVA

WARREN

LORAIN

MANSFIELD

ASHLAND

BELLEVUE

BUCYRUS

GALION

HURON

MEDINA

NORWALK

OBERLIN

ORRVILLE

RITTMAN

SANDUSKY

SHELBY

WILLARD

WOOSTER

TOLEDO

BOWLINGGREEN

BRYAN

CLYDE

FOSTORIA

NAPOLEON

PORTCLINTON

TIFFIN

WAUSEON

LIMA

ADA

DEFIANCE

DELPHOS

KENTON

UPPERSANDUSKY

VAN WERT

BRIDGEPORT-WHEELING

STEUBENVILLE

MILLERSBURGMILLERSBURG

NEWPHILADELPHIA

EASTLIVERPOOL

ST.CLAIRSVILLE

UHRICHSVILLEUHRICHSVILLE

CADIZ

CARROLLTON

SALEM

DOVER

BELPRE

ATHENSATHENS

MCARTHUR

POMEROY

GALLIPOLIS

MARIETTA

WOODSFIELDCALDWELL

MCCONNELSVILLEMCCONNELSVILLE

LOGAN

PARKERSBURG

HUNTINGTON

CHILLICOTHE

WAVERLY

GREENFIELD

HILLSBORO

GEORGETOWN

MT. ORAB

WESTUNION

JACKSON

PORTSMOUTH

WELLSTON

IRONTON

ASHLAND

HAMILTON

MIDDLETOWN

CINCINNATI

EATON

XENIA

HARRISON

LEBANONLEBANON

OXFORDOXFORD

WILMINGTONWILMINGTON

DAYTONDAYTON

SPRINGFIELD

BELLEFONTAINE

CELINA

GREENVILLE

NEWCARLISLENEWCARLISLE

PIQUA

SIDNEY

ST.MARYS

TROY

URBANA

WAPAKONETA

COLUMBUSCOLUMBUS

CIRCLEVILLECIRCLEVILLE

DELAWAREDELAWARE

LONDON

MARION

MARYSVILLEMARYSVILLE

WASHINGTONC.H.

HEATH CAMBRIDGE

COSHOCTON

LANCASTER

MOUNTVERNON

NEW LEXINGTON

ZANESVILLE

NEWARK

AKRONAKRON

SHARON

CANTON

YOUNGSTOWNYOUNGSTOWN

ALLIANCE

ASHTABULA

CONNEAUT

CORTLAND

GENEVA

WARREN

LORAIN

CRAWFORD

CUYAHOGA

GEAUGA

HOLMES

TUSCARAWAS

BELMONT

COLUMBIANA

CARROLL

GALLIA

VINTON

HOCKING

MEIGS

ATHENS

MORGAN

NOBLE

WASHINGTON

PIKE

JACKSON

LAWRENCE

SCIOTO

ROSS

ADAMS

HIGHLAND

BROWN

HAMILTON

WARREN

GREENE

CLINTON

CLERMONT

BUTLER

PREBLE

AUGLAIZE

CHAMPAIGN

CLARK

LOGAN

MONTGOMERY

SHELBY

MERCER

DARKE

MIAMI

FRANKLIN

PICKAWAY

MARION

MORROWUNION

MADISON

FAYETTE

DELAWARECOSHOCTON

KNOX

GUERNSEY

MUSKINGUM

LICKING

FAIRFIELD

PERRY

SUMMIT STARK

ASHTABULA

TRUMBULL

MAHONING

PORTAGE

HURON

RICHLAND WAYNE

LORAIN

ASHLAND

FULTON

WOOD

OTTAWAWILLIAMS

SENECASENECA

HENRY

ALLEN

HARDIN

DEFIANCE

PAULDING

VAN�WERT PUTNAM

HANCOCK

WYANDOT

LORAIN

CRAWFORD

LORAIN

CLEVELANDCLEVELAND

MANSFIELD

ASHLAND

BELLEVUE

BUCYRUS

GALION

HURON

MEDINA

NORWALK

OBERLIN

ORRVILLE

RITTMAN

SANDUSKY

SHELBY

WILLARD

WOOSTER

ELYRIAELYRIA

TOLEDO

BOWLINGGREEN

BRYAN

CLYDE

FOSTORIA

FREMONT

NAPOLEON

PORTCLINTON

TIFFIN

WAUSEON

LIMA

ADA

DEFIANCE

DELPHOS

FINDLAYFINDLAY

KENTON

UPPERSANDUSKY

VAN WERT

CUYAHOGA

GEAUGA

LAKELAKE

HOLMES

TUSCARAWAS

HARRISONHARRISON

BELMONT

JEFFERSONJEFFERSON

COLUMBIANA

CARROLL

GALLIA

VINTON

HOCKING

MEIGS

ATHENS

MORGAN

NOBLE

WASHINGTON

MONROEMONROE

PIKE

JACKSON

LAWRENCE

SCIOTO

ROSS

ADAMS

HIGHLAND

BROWN

HAMILTON

WARREN

GREENE

CLINTON

CLERMONT

BUTLER

PREBLE

AUGLAIZE

CHAMPAIGN

CLARK

LOGAN

MONTGOMERY

SHELBY

MERCER

DARKE

MIAMI

FRANKLIN

PICKAWAY

MARION

MORROWUNION

MADISON

FAYETTE

DELAWARECOSHOCTON

KNOX

GUERNSEY

MUSKINGUM

LICKING

FAIRFIELD

PERRY

SUMMIT STARK

ASHTABULA

TRUMBULL

MAHONING

PORTAGE

ERIEERIE

HURON

RICHLAND WAYNE

LORAIN

MEDINAMEDINA

ASHLAND

FULTON LUCASLUCAS

WOOD

OTTAWAWILLIAMS

SANDUSKYSANDUSKY

SENECASENECA

HENRY

ALLEN

HARDIN

DEFIANCE

PAULDING

VAN WERT PUTNAM

HANCOCK

WYANDOT

I-475/Salisbury Road -Partial cloverleaf ramps

U.S. 42/U.S. 30 - Double roundabouts

I-75/South Dixie Drive - Partial interchange upgraded to

diamond interchange.

North OuterbeltI-270/U.S. 23 -

Trench, partial cloverleaf ramps.I-270/SR 315 -

Flyover ramps, improved collector/distributor.

I-75/SR 122 - Partial cloverleaf ramps.

SR 8/Steels Corner Road - Bridge widening, adding turn lanes.

I-70/Mall Road - New interchange on

collector/distributor system.

I-480/Grayton Road - Safety upgrade (lane addition).

I-71/Quigley Road - Roundabout

Planned Major Interchange Improvements

Outdated Interchanges and Congestion;How we got to flyovers, SPUIs, tunnels and trenches

Joel Hunt, Central Office

IN THE 1989 MOVIE FIELD OF DREAMS, Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella heard voices telling him, ‘If you build it

they will come.’ Taking this to mean he should build a baseball diamond on his farm, he rolled up his sleeves and started construction.

Developers must have heard the same voices in the 1940s when they created America’s first suburban towns. Before the coming of the interstate system, builders were already changing the landscape with new communities that would help define and shape the future of roadways in the nation.

The GI bill of 1944 funded construction of new houses for soldiers returning home from World War II. With vast amounts of affordable l a nd ava i l able ju s t outside of urban areas, developers began buying thousands of acres and building towns full of prefabricated houses.

The first preplanned, mass-produced housing community was built from 1946 to 1951, which predated the nation’s interstate highway system.

Early suburban towns contained thousands of low-cost homes with accompanying shopping centers, p layg rou nd s , sw i m m i ng pool s , community halls and schools. But these new suburbs had need for connections to the cities where commerce and culture thrived.

In 1956, the Federal Aid Highway Act designated a highway system connecting all major cities in the U.S. At the same time, the increased demand for housing, par t icularly single-family homes, resulted in more government loans and

other incentives to expand housing in suburban areas.

Life in the suburbs became feasible with the automobile, which provided mobility everywhere, anytime. Thus, after World War II, at least in the United States, the growth of the automobile, the urban road network and the suburbs were linked together.

And some would say, they still are today.

Suburban growth continues to be a major challenge facing ODOT. The department struggles to match resources to rebuild aging roads with the need to widen roads and build safer, more efficient interchanges to handle Ohio’s growing traffic volumes.

Ohio has more than 1,600 interchanges on the interstate system. Many were designed 50 years ago to accommodate projected traffic volumes through the

1980s.Today, congested interchanges can be

found in nearly every part of the state. From the Interstate 75/State Route 15 interchange in District 1 to the Interstate 77/Rockside Road interchange in District 12, nearly every county has a list of outdated interchanges that need improvements.

“Nothing endures but change,” said Howard Wood, deputy director of

Planning. “If we hope to serve the public’s need for efficient infrastructure, we must adapt as an agency. We must adapt our approach to project development and we must adapt our design philosophy.”

To m e e t m o d e r n challenges, old ideas sometimes have to be put aside in favor of new ones. Cloverleaf interchanges, once a trademark of interstate systems in Ohio, are quickly disappearing from the landscape. Cloverleaf

interchanges contain four loop ramps, which, from

the air, resemble a clover leaf. But these interchanges handle

less capacity than other designs, cause backups which result in rear-end collisions, consume vast amounts of land and cause traffic weaving. Partial cloverleaf interchanges, two loop ramps instead of four, remain an effective way of maintaining traffic at busy intersections because they eliminate left turns.

Flyover ramps are one way of elimi-nating congestion caused by cloverleaf interchanges. These ramps provide mo-torists with their own lane to enter or exit the freeway, rather than sharing lanes as they do with cloverleafs. They are called flyovers because they typically take mo-torists over one freeway before connect-

(see INTERCHANGES on page 7)

TRANSCRIPT, JULY 2006 7

ing them to the other. In addition, the longer, more gradual curves of flyover ramps allow motorists to maintain free-way speed.

Diamond interchanges , which resemble a diamond from the air, are far more common now because of their versatility and compressed design. Traditional diamond interchanges have also been altered to create Single Point Urban Interchanges (SPUIs). SPUIs can pump more traffic through an interchange while taking the least amount of right of way and using fewer traffic lights than traditional diamond interchanges. The SPUI design has become so popular around the country t ha t s t a t e s , l i ke Nor t h C a rol i n a , have selec t ed i t as their prefer red interchange. The nation’s first SPUI opened to traffic in 1974 in Clearwater, Florida. Ohio’s first SPU I opened to t raff ic in August 2000 at Interstate 270 and Sawmill Road in Columbus. District 6 is currently constructing Ohio’s s e c ond SPU I a t State Route 161 and Sunbury Road in

northeast Columbus. While developing

solutions to modern-day traffic congestion a n d d e ve lo p m e n t issues, engineers have learned to reconsider ideas once thought imprac t ica l . P r ior to the Interstate 670 High Street Cap in Columbus, only one urban tunnel existed in Ohio – the Interstate 71 Lytle Tunnel in downtown Cincinnati.

Previously, tunnels were avoided because

of the danger of fire, expensive lighting and high-maintenance ventilat ion systems. But with modern technology and materials, a 425-foot-long tunnel will open to traffic at I-270 and SR 161 in Columbus in late 2007 (see Feature Photo on page 8).

When freeways were originally built through urban areas, they were either elevated or built lower in trenches. More recently, when the need for capacity increased, the trench’s sloped walls were replaced with vertical retaining walls at the far edge of the right of way. The space formerly used for sloped walls became new lanes for traffic. In 2011, a 3,500-

INTERCHANGES (from page 6)

Highway Act which he signed into law in June of 1956 had two titles: among other provisions, Title I of the act increased the system’s proposed length to 41,000 miles and called for nationwide standards for design. Title II of the Act – the Highway Revenue Act – created the Highway Trust Fund as a dedicated source of funding. Revenue from gas and other motor-vehicle user taxes would feed the trust fund to pay the federal share of interstate and all other federally-aided highway projects. In this way, the system became self-financing without contributing to the national budget deficit.

As history tells it, Eisenhower first saw the need for a national system of modern highways based on his experiences with an experimental convoy in America in 1919. Years later as a general, Eisenhower observed the advantages offered by using the more modern Autobahn Road in Germany. While it is commonly believed he supported the interstates because he wanted a way of evacuating cities if the United States was attacked by atomic bombs, Eisenhower saw the system more as a support for domestic concerns like economic development and improving highway safety than for military ones.

With a signature on a bill and construction begun all over the country, the interstate system was born.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has a Web site with facts about the interstates and the national anniversary celebrat ion at www.interstate50th.org. Information about Ohio’s celebration of the interstate anniversary can be found on a link through ODOT’s internet homepage at www.dot.state.oh.us/interstate50.

INTERSTATES (from page 5)

(see INTERCHANGES on page 8)

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An aerial view of Ohio’s first Single Point Urban Inter-change (SPUI), on Interstate 270 at Sawmill Road in northwest Franklin County.

Abutments of the future ramp from Interstate 70 west to Interstate 75 south. The new ramp will help eliminate weaving and merging at the interchange. ODOT is rebuilding the entire I-70/I-75 corridor to increase safety, reduce congestion and upgrade the highway to handle future traffic needs. The project is scheduled for completion in 2008. For more information, visit the project Web site at www.70x75.org.

8 TRANSCRIPT, JULY 2006

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OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION1980 W. BROAD ST.

COLUMBUS, OHIO 43223 Phone: (614) 466-7170 Fax: (614) 644-8662

Visit our Web site at http://www.dot.state.oh.us

Bob Taft, Governor

Gordon Proctor, ODOT Director

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONSLindsay Komlanc, Editor

Andy Eline, Layout/Design Editor

PRINTED BY THE ODOT PRINT SHOPODOT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

July 2006 – Work on Columbus’ second tunnel progresses. This tunnel will take motorists from State Route 161 west to Interstate 270 south. Both of the flyover ramps being added as part of the project can be seen in the background. Further east, crews are also building a Single Point Urban Interchange at SR 161 and Sunbury Road. The entire project will be complete in 2007.

foot-long two-lane trench with vertical retaining walls will be constructed, maximizing space in the center of a six-lane corridor north of the I-270 and U.S. Route 23 interchange in Columbus. Heavy traffic on northbound U.S. 23 has long caused backups onto I-270, resulting in congestion and rear end collisions.

ODOT has also been investigating designs such as continuous flow intersections (CFI) and modern roundabouts to improve the operation and safety of highways at a reduced cost. The first modern roundabout connected to the state system will be at I-71 and Quigley Road in Cuyahoga County. Roundabouts are also planned for U.S. Route 42/U.S. Route 30 in Ashland County and U.S. Route 62 and Morse Road near New Albany and Gahanna on the northeast side of Columbus, and the first CFI may be built at State Route 750 and U.S. Route 23 in Delaware County, north of Columbus.

ODOT’s Office of Roadway Engineering has launched an extensive training program

INTERCHANGES (from page 7)Ph

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Keeping Ohio highways in top shape is one of the most constant and demanding challenges any public institution will ever face. ODOT does it with hard work, dedi-cation, innovation and always remember-ing and learning from the past.

and Quality Assurance Review Process to help districts as well as non-ODOT personnel understand the new designs.

It is the role of public service to keep up with development of the society it serves – and the issues progress brings.

Diagram of the proposed modern roundabout at U.S. Route 62 and Morse Road in northeast Franklin County.