Travel is about to get a little bit easier for some of the 150,000 vehicles that pass through downtown Columbus everyday.
One lane of the long-awaited I-71 southbound flyover ramp will open on Saturday.
The Ohio Department of Transportation said the nearly mile-long ramp stands 100 feet over the Scioto River and will carry southbound vehicles over I-70 west. The ramp eliminates a left-side merge and the need for drivers to cross three lanes of traffic to stay on I-71 south.
ODOT expects it to improve safety and help congestion in the area. A second lane will eventually open.
“The new flyover ramp untangles and modernizes an outdated interchange built in the 1960s and better accommodates current and future capacity," said ODOT Director Pamela Boratyn.
With the opening of the flyover, the 3rd Street ramp to I-70 west will close permanently on Saturday. The ramps for the flyover and I-70 will now be off Mound Street.
The flyover ramp is part of a $280 million phase of construction that includes construction of the Front Street Bridge, a new eastbound ramp to Fulton Street and replacement of the bridge deck on the I-70 westbound bridge over State Route 315.
The flyover ramp opens just as holiday travel picks up and amid fluctuating winter weather. ODOT said it will prioritize the bridge to make sure it is properly salted and cleared during winter storms.
The next phase of ODOT's Downtown Ramp Up project will focus on reconstruction of the High Street, 3rd Street and 4th Street bridges over I-70.
