The next round of traffic impacts is headed to downtown Columbus as part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Downtown Ramp Up project.
By the morning of Friday, July 3, drivers will see a new traffic pattern on I-71 North between Broad Street and I-670:
Currently, two lanes split to the left at Broad St. to continue on I-71 north and two lanes split to the right to exit to I-670.
Starting Friday morning, July 3, the I-71 north lanes will split. One single lane will split to the left for I-71 north and two lanes split to the right - one for I-670 only and one for either I-71 north or I-670.
On Monday, July 6, Parsons Avenue will close between Main Street and Mooberry Street for two months to demolish the bridge over Interstate 70 eastbound, rebuild Parsons Ave., and construct a new I-70 eastbound bridge over Parsons Ave. The detour for vehicular traffic is Livingston Ave. to either Grant Ave. or 18th Ave. to Main St. The entrance ramp to I-71 north and I-670 will remain open.
Typically, drivers can only access the ramp to I-71 from eastbound Main St., however, a temporary configuration will be in place during the two-month closure to allow access from either direction of Main St.
As a safety precaution, Parsons Ave. will close to pedestrians between Main St. and Mooberry Street on Wednesday, July 1.
The detour for pedestrians is Livingston Ave. to Grant Ave. to Main Street to Parsons Avenue.
When Parsons Avenue reopens in September, weather permitting, it will be reduced to one lane in each direction for work south of Mooberry St.
This phase of the I-70/71 Downtown Ramp Up, which includes a new ramp from Fulton St. to I-70 east is expected to be complete in Fall 2021.
And starting Monday, July 13, the following ramps will close:
- I-71 north to Broad St.
Detour: I-71 north to Leonard Ave. to Jack Gibbs to Cleveland Ave. to Broad St. - Broad St. to I-71 south
Detour: Broad St. to 3rd St. to I-70 west to I-71 south.
The Broad St. exit ramp from I-71 north is expected to reopen next summer (Summer 2021) and the ramp from Broad St. to I-71 south will remain closed until Summer 2022.
The $40 million project to replace the Broad St. bridge over I-71, widen I-71 south, and construct two new urban avenues between Broad St. and Long St. is expected to be complete in June 2022.
