The Ohio Department of Transportation is wrapping up work on the Front Street bridge over Interstate 70 in downtown Columbus this fall while work on three other downtown overpasses is expected to last until 2030.
The $1.4 billion Downtown Ramp Up project redid the I-71 and I-70 interchange, but also set out to replace aging overpasses in downtown Columbus. Front Street's bridge, which is open to traffic, needs landscaping and streetscape work ahead of a completion date this fall.
After Front Street, crews will focus on the South High Street overpass. The bridge has already been half-demolished with limited traffic allowed through both directions between downtown Columbus and the Brewery District.
ODOT District 6 spokesperson Hannah Salem said the High Street bridge will take roughly two years to be completed. Salem said since High Street is a major corridor, it's important to keep the road open, at least partially, during construction.
"Once the western half of the bridge has been rebuilt, we'll shift all the traffic over and then demolish and rebuild the eastern half of the road," Salem said.
After that, comes long awaited work on the aging and damaged 3rd and 4th street bridges.
"You can expect 3rd and 4th street(s) to be under construction once High Street is reopened, so still a few years out at this point," Salem said. "And really the purpose for that is just to have a much wider and nicer overpass for both vehicles, as well as pedestrians and cyclists, and then to replace our aging infrastructure."
Salem said these overpasses date back decades to the original construction of the highway. Both the 3rd and 4th street bridges were struck by semi-trucks carrying oversized loads in recent years.
Salem said the bridges will be built with better materials compared to 60 years ago and will have more vertical clearance to avoid accidents in the future.
Both the 3rd and 4th street bridges, heading to and from German Village, either have visible damage from these accidents or have safety cones set up limiting car traffic. Both also have limited bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
Renderings for these bridges show wider overpasses with landscaping features, similar to the bridges on Broad Street and Spring Street over I-71. Salem said the exact look and feel of any landscaping and green space on the bridges is up to the city of Columbus, who is working with ODOT closely on the project.
Salem said ODOT does have future phases of the Downtown Ramp Up projects in the works, but none have received full funding yet. These could include work on interchanges and ramp work on I-70.
"At this time, we don't have a timeline for when those phases could begin. It's all based on funding," Salem said.
