BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
All traffic on Fort Washington Way is now sharing the Eastbound lanes.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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With its westbound lanes and ramps closed, Cincinnati's Fort Washington Way is finally as restricted as it's going to get over the next year.
Construction crews completed the rerouting of westbound traffic onto the southern half of the highway about 6 a.m. Saturday, said Don Gindling, a city of Cincinnati engineer serving as construction manager for the project. Now eastbound and westbound motorists have only concrete barriers between them.
"It went together pretty well," Mr. Gindling said. "It rides real well. I don't think it's going to be too bad."
A new Eggleston Avenue ramp into downtown from southbound Interstate 71 and I-471 opened around 6 p.m. Saturday, Mr. Gindling said. That was a couple days ahead of schedule and in plenty of time for Monday morning rush hour.
But hundreds of commuters have decided the best way to navigate Fort Washington Way during the highway's reconstruction is to let someone else do the driving.
Since two new park-and-ride locations opened last month in Fairfield and Harrison, Metro buses have been transporting 100 people downtown from each location and back every weekday, said Sallie Hilvers, a spokeswoman.
Buses along I-71 routes have seen increased ridership, too, and Metro officials estimate those buses alone are removing more than 300 cars from the roadway each day, she said.
"I think when people really see what's happening on Fort Washington Way, we believe more will be looking for alternatives," Ms. Hilvers said.
Lynne Moses of Westwood and Tara Peterson of Springfield Township already take the bus, so they don't have to worry about fighting rush-hour traffic jams.
"I think a lot more people are riding the bus," Ms. Moses said. Ms. Peterson agreed, saying before the roadwork started, there usually were plenty of seats on buses going downtown.
"Now there's a lot of standing-room only," she said.
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BUS - RIDESHARE
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For Metro route information, call 621-4455, or check Metro's Web page at www.sorta.com
For information about TANK bus routes in Northern Kentucky, call 331-TANK.
The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments also operates a free Rideshare service, which helps commuters find people to car-pool to work with them each day. To get a list of participants who live and work near you, call 241-RIDE or (800) 241-RIDE outside Greater Cincinnati.
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With Metro's 50-cent summer fares, riding the bus is also much cheaper than driving and parking downtown, Ms. Moses said. And with all the construction work, driving downtown typically takes just as long as riding the bus, Ms. Peterson added.
That's not to say riding the bus is worry-free. Ms. Peterson said the first day her bus took the Seventh Street exit off I-75 southbound instead of getting off at the now-closed Vine Street exit, she wasn't expecting the change.
"The first day, I was reading my book and looked up and had no idea where I was," she said.
The $146.9 million Fort Washington Way project is designed to narrow the highway, which stretches from the Brent Spence Bridge through the Lytle Tunnel, and make it safer.
Once the project is complete in August 2000, Fort Washington Way will serve as a conduit between I-75 and I-71 with access to downtown restricted to the highway's two ends.
Monday will be the first weekday test of the roadway since Fort Washington Way's westbound ramps closed Friday night.
Ramps that closed permanently include: the westbound exit ramp to Vine Street and Covington; the westbound exit ramp to Elm and Third streets downtown; the ramp onto the westbound highway at Sycamore and Third streets downtown; and the ramp onto the westbound highway at Pike Street.
Two other connections between Fort Washington Way and the highway will be closed for the next 18 months: the loop ramp connecting I-471 northbound to Fort Washington Way westbound and the ramp connecting Columbia Parkway westbound to Fort Washington Way westbound. Even with all the closures, driving to and from downtown Cincinnati is by no means impossible.
The eastbound Pete Rose Way ramp to the riverfront remains open, and the new Eggleston Avenue ramp offers a new way into downtown. Most drivers simply have to find new ways to get to old haunts, and Fort Washington Way planners have a number of recommended alternate routes for getting to and from downtown.
