Thursday, July 15, 1999
Weekend traffic starting earlier
Easy solution: Leave Wednesday
BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Planning to sneak out of town tonight to beat that Friday summer traffic?
Too late.
Thursday evening traffic jams in some parts of Greater Cincinnati are as bad as the Friday rush out of town.
Traffic counters don't keep numbers that compare how many cars and trucks are on the roadway on a given day.
But drivers who sit in the traffic and people who watch Cincinnati traffic patterns have seen volumes increase on Thursday nights since school let out for the summer.
“Everybody is trying to sneak out early,” said John Phillips, who has been delivering radio traffic reports from the air for two decades. “It seems to be a trend over the past few years.”
There's extra traffic on already-crowded Interstate 71 at Fields Ertel Road.
More drivers are making the loop around I-471 to I-275.
And the worst of them all on Thursday nights: southbound I-75 toward the Brent Spence Bridge.
Whether it's Cincinnatians trying to duck out early for a vacation or out-of-towners passing through on the main north-south artery, traffic on southbound I-75 often comes to a halt from the Ohio River north to Hopple Street on Thursday nights.
On a really bad day, it backs up to the I-74 interchange.
“They are barely moving,” said ARTIMIS operations supervisor Linda Roll, who monitors Greater Cincinnati's rush-hour traffic. “We've clocked it. Some of them take 30 minutes to get from Hopple Street to the river. That's normally a four-minute drive.”
Traffic on that stretch of I-75 has gotten worse since westbound Fort Washington Way shut down earlier this year, forcing those cars to find an alternate route.
When traffic is bad, Wally Whalen, who commutes down I-75 from his job in Woodlawn to his Florence home, usually bails out with a few shortcuts that he's learned over the 23 years that he's done the commute.
“But even the shortcuts are getting backed up on some nights,” he said.
True vacation is a chance to ignore real life
Opposition sprouts along light-rail route
FIVE STEPS TO LIGHT RAIL
Bisexual officer says bias led to demotion
Boy's big breast outside insurance policy
Day care is cautious after great toy truck escape
Ind. county sees casino's new era
Weekend traffic starting earlier
A Dummy's Guide to Dummies
Firm selected to fix fountain
Sidney suspect's tales of cult attacks doubted
Ex-cop draws prison in sex case
Ohio to add Pick 3, Pick 4 in afternoon
Rabbit population chomps gardens
Trailing in race, Kasich calls it quits
Videomakers get last laugh on council
GOP leader's leaving is big chance
Magic in the air at downtown's Omni
Area girls plan health conference for 2000
GET TO IT
Anglers cast lines for 'Big Bud'
Citizens panel to review Middletown charter
Court ruling protects state employees
Dispatch fees expected to rise without merger
Downtown parking on street more costly
Farmers' mart proposed for Cheviot
Fernald cleanup leaders want public involvement
GOP leaders question state contracts awarded
Judge delays decision on pawn shop robbers
Montgomery stormed for Bastille Day
More city workers learn to fight terror attacks
Schools face deadline for levies
Suicide ends long standoff
Three seats open on school board
TRISTATE DIGEST
