Segment I - Red Bank Corridor
Eastern Corridor Segment One (Red Bank Road/Expressway) is the western most segment of a four segment project to relocate and improve SR-32 from Interstate -71 in Cincinnati eastward to Union Township in Clermont County. Segment One is approximately 2.5 miles in length along Redbank Road/Expressway from Interstate 71 south to US-50. The project is located within the City of Cincinnati and Village of Fairfax. Project planning and design for Segment One will be preformed in conjunction with remaining segments of SR-32. This project is one of several multimodal projects recommended for advancement under the auspices of the Eastern Corridor Study to improve transportation between eastern Hamilton County and Clermont County.
Background
Red Bank Road/Expressway is the primary north south transportation corridor within the City of Cincinnati east of Interstate 71. The urban arterial stretches from an interchange with I-71 on the north an interchange with US-50 Columbia Parkway on the South. It links the residential areas of Oakley, Madisonville, Linwood and Columbia Tusculum to Interstate 71. It also serves as the primarily link for Fairfax, Mariemont and Newtown to central Hamilton County and points north. It is a vital freight facility serving industrial landuses in the Wooster Pike and Wilmer Avenue corridors to the south. It is intersected by two major east-west arterials, Madison Road and Erie /Brotherton Avenues.
The majority of the current roadway was constructed in the 1950’s and predominate landuses in the surrounding neighborhood date from the early post war period as this area rapidly developed spurred on by industrial expansion into the Duck Creek Valley by such enterprises as the Ford Transmission Plant in Fairfax. With the completion of I-71 and I-275, combined with the decline service on the Norfolk and Western and Pennsylvania Railroads, development moved outward to northern Hamilton County and Clermont County. With ongoing suburbanization and loss of industrial activity through traffic declined and the economic vitality of the area began to decline. During the past decade the corridor has seen renewed interest in redevelopment of the former industrial landuses as the underutilized properties have become more attractive given the growing congestion and rising land values in outlying locations.
As part of the Eastern Corridor Study, planning efforts over the last decade evaluated transportation needs in the Corridor, identified environmental and community issues, developed preliminary multimodal alternatives, and assessed preliminary costs, benefits, and impacts. This included the need for improved access from Clermont County as well as south eastern portions of Hamilton County to northern Hamilton county and points north. To meet this travel demand the Eastern Corridor Study recommended new roadway capacity for SR-32 from Clermont County to I-71 including a relocated section from US 50 to Mt. Carmel-Tobasco Road. Additionally, SR-32 would be relocated from its current route along the Beechmont Levee to a direct connection with Red Bank Expressway via a new bridge crossing of the Little Miami River and a new Interchange with US-50 (Columbia Parkway.)
The City of Cincinnati has undertaken significant steps to facilitate redevelopment of the area in concert with the Village of Fairfax. This has included the establishment of various land use planning initiative along Red Bank Road and along Madison Road in particular. Private developers are currently in several of stages of planning, design and construction for several mixed use developments which will be directly served by the corridor. In order to efficiently serve this forecasted new growth additional capacity combined with some form of access management will be necessary.
Local residents and community stakeholders have expressed concerned that the project may effectively bisect the area aggravating a sense of community fragmentation. An important aspect of this project will be to work closely with project stakeholders to develop context sensitive design solutions that support community vision for a revitalized Red Bank Corridor (not a "pass-through" corridor) and that support desired land use, economic development/re-development and fit with other multimodal improvements (including transit and bike/pedestrian facilities). The project team recognizes the need to balance the need to accommodate growing volumes of traffic with the need to minimize disruption to the community.
Project Status
Feasible alternatives addressing the need for improved capacity and accessibility were developed during earlier planning efforts from 2004-2006. Development of these alternatives is documented in the report titled “Preliminary Input for Assessment of Feasible Alternatives for Eastern Corridor Segment I (Red Bank Road)” December 2006.
Each mainline alternative generally follows alignment of the existing Red Bank Expressway, with differing access configurations at Erie Avenue and Madison Road. These alternatives will be further refined during this phase of work to arrive at a preferred alternative to advance for future designed and construction. This project includes not only the improvements to the Red Bank mainline but also several local streets to improve connectivity and circulation. The improvements to the local street network will play a vital role in trip distribution within the project area.
Scope of Work
The scope of work for this phase follows the ten step Project Development Process (PDP) established by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The current phase of work will be primarily conducted under the step three of this process which includes preliminary engineering and environmental analysis.
The primary purpose of preliminary engineering is to establish and develop the project design parameters to a level of detail comprehensive enough to generate an accurate scope, schedule, and budget for the remainder of the design. On projects with multiple alternatives such as this, preliminary engineering also provides a level of design that allows for an educated selection of the preferred alternative.
Environmental analysis is used to quantify and qualify the characteristics of the natural and man-made environment. Environmental field studies are conducted for the alternatives defined in the preliminary engineering study. Reports generated from these environmental field studies are used to determine whether further investigations are warranted. If it is determined that additional field study is necessary to refine impacts, this work will be conducted only within the preferred alternative during future phases of design.
Major work elements for this phase of work include the following:
• Establishment of project basemapping and survey data for the study area
• Reviewing and updating the purpose and need for the project developed during earlier planning efforts.
• Conducting traffic counts and performing traffic analysis to predict current and future traffic volumes.
• Identifying design and environmental constraints or issues.
• Utility and Railroad Coordination
• Refinement of alternatives for the Red Bank Road mainline and surrounding street network.
• Coordination with ongoing planning and design for SR-32 9 Segment II/III from US-50 east to Clermont County.
• Evaluating potential environmental and right of way impacts
• Public Involvement Activities including public workshops and website
• Development of scope of work for detail design and conceptual cost estimates.
