ODOT-ACEC Partnering Award 2016 | Excellence in Highway Design

A Project Data

Project PID 94271

Project Name: FRA-70-15.25 (I-70/I-71 East Interchange, Phase 2C)

Road: I-70 Westbound Ramp to Mound Street / Mound Street / 18th Street Bridge

County or Municipality: City of Columbus / Franklin County, OH

ODOT District: District 6

Category for which project is being nominated: Best Urban Project

Construction Project Number: 130284

Dates of PS&E, Letting, and Construction Completion: 1/23/2013, 5/24/2013, 9/30/2014

Name of Organization Submitting: ms consultants, inc.

Contact person for award-related material/submittal: Tom Hibbard, PE; thibbard@msconsultants.com;

614.898.7100; 2221 Schrock Road, Columbus, OH 43229-1547

Region Contact person and their role:

- Tom Hibbard, PE / Consultant Project Manager

thibbard@msconsultants.com

614.898.7100

2221 Schrock Road, Columbus, OH 43229-1547

Project Personnel and their roles, including significant players from bureaus (e.g., Structures), agencies,

consultants, etc.:

- Leslie Montgomery, PE, Project Manager, ODOT District 6

- Jeff Vance, PE, Project Engineer, ODOT District 6 Construction

- Tim Keller, PE ODOT Office of Structural Engineering

- Alex Dettloff, PE ODOT Office of Geotechnical Engineering

- Rick Bruce, PE ODOT Office of Roadway Engineering

- Bud Braughton, City of Columbus, Department of Public Service, Downtown and Special

Projects

- Jim Villacres, PE/PS, ms consultants, Roadway Design

- Gary Gardner, PE, ms consultants, Bridge Design

Subconsultants:

- CEC (Columbus Engineering Consultants, Inc.) – 840 Michigan Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215

- DLZ Corporation – 6121 Huntley Road, Columbus, OH 43229

- Dynotec, Inc. – 2931 E. Dublin-Granville Road #200, Columbus, OH 43231

- Engage Public Affairs, LLC – 7759 Crawley Drive, Dublin, OH 43017

- HNTB – 88 East Broad Street #1600, Columbus, OH 43215

- MKSK – 462 South Ludlow Street, Columbus, OH 43215

B Award Ceremony Information

Person(s) accepting award at ceremony (Name, Email, phone):

- Thomas E. Mosure, PE, President, msconsultants, inc.

- Ferzan Ahmed, PE, Deputy Director, ODOT District 6

Names to show on certificate, up to 6 persons and their companies or roles:

- Thomas E. Mosure, PE, President, msconsultants, inc.

- Ferzan Ahmed, PE, Deputy Director, ODOT District 6

One JPG image to be used on certificate: Please use Photo2_Overall_Project_aerial.jpg for the

certificate. The 18th Street Bridge is shown in the upper left corner. The Mound Street Flyover ramp is

the curved (white) bridge in the left center of the photo. It ties into Mound Street as it enters downtown.

This view is looking southeast toward Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Downtown Columbus is to the

lower right.

C Executive Summary

Overall Purpose, Goals, and Design Methodology

The I-70/I-71 South Innerbelt corridor in downtown Columbus is one of the busiest and most vital sections of

highway in central Ohio. It serves approximately 130,000 vehicles per day and is part of the National Freight

Highway Network. It’s also one of the most hazardous roadways in Ohio, consistently ranking in the top five

crash locations in the state. Although it makes up only six percent of the Columbus area freeway system, it is

the site of 27 percent of all freeway crashes in the region – averaging two crashes per day. This high volume

of traffic combined with the close spacing of three system interchanges and 44 ramps within 3.5 miles result

in stopped traffic and a high number of vehicles changing lanes. This contributes to a high number of rear

end and sideswipe crashes in the corridor – an average of 2 per day.

The purpose of the proposed project is to improve safety by:

Untangling the overlap of I-70 and I-71, reducing the number of lane changes through Downtown

Increasing capacity to reduced congestion

Relocating and consolidating ramps to reduce vehicle lane changes and merging traffic

The development of the plan to accomplish this involved the coordination with a large group of stakeholders

representing:

The City of Columbus

Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA)

Neighborhood organizations and historic districts

Section 106 consulting parties

Downtown businesses

Hospitals and emergency services

Utility owners

More than 500 public meetings, workshops and community meetings were held to obtain input on the project

concept. This included community workshops that developed a design enhancement plan that established

aesthetic guidelines for bridges, retaining walls and reconstructed city streets.

To consolidate ramps, a system of one-way urban avenues was developed by constructing new streets and

reconstructing existing ones. These urban avenues would provide connectivity from the new ramps to the

downtown street grid. “Complete Streets” principles were used as part of the design for these streets. In

2010, ODOT designated the I-70/I-71 project as one of its first “Complete Streets” pilot projects in order to

integrate these new avenues into the downtown environment accommodating all modes of transportation –

transit, pedestrian and bicycle.

This project provides the following benefits to the community:

Enhances regional economic development opportunities by improving the freight corridor

Builds bike lanes, new and wider sidewalks, ADA curb ramps and reconfigured intersections that include

shorter street crossings. This greatly improves safety in an area which is heavily used by pedestrians and

bicyclists.

Transforms the livability and economic viability of the urban core by improving the connectivity of

economically distressed neighborhoods to the downtown business district through enhanced urban

avenues and freeway crossings.

The Mound Street Connector Project is part of the reconstruction of the I-70/I-71 East Interchange. This

project consisted of constructing a new ramp (flyover bridge) to downtown Columbus from westbound I-70,

allowing ODOT to close the exit ramp at 4th Street. This improved the safety at one of the highest crash

locations in the corridor.

The project also replaced the 18th Street Bridge over I-70 and rebuilding a portion of Mound Street with bike

lanes, sidewalks, improved lighting and streetscaping. Thanks to this project, a new gateway has been created

into downtown Columbus.

By constructing the Mound Street Connector Project ahead of the rest of the I-70/I-71 East Interchange, it

allowed for the early reconstruction of the 18th Street bridge, before any other street closures would occur as

part of the East Interchange Project.

As a testament to the partnership formed between ODOT, Columbus, MORPC, Nationwide

Children’s Hospital, ms consultants and other project stakeholders, this complex urban interchange

reconstruction project was completed nearly 20 percent under its original budget and with a relatively

low 2 percent of change orders during construction. The level of cooperation in working together

Advanced a project that improved safety

Brought funding together from multiple agencies and the Hospital to create a more livable,

connected community that will be enjoyed by the public for many years to come

Produced a cost effective design, and

Managed the project through construction to avoid delays and ensure the best value was achieved

Unique Aspects of the Project

The Mound Street Urban Avenue and I-70 Westbound Flyover Bridge demonstrate innovative solutions to a

number of challenging problems in the following ways:

Overall Traffic Planning – The traffic planning for the I-70/I-71 split recommended a unique approach to

solve congestion and safety issues: repurposing existing Mound Street, Lester Drive, Parsons Avenue,

and Elijah Pierce Boulevard as “urban avenues” to facilitate downtown traffic moving to and from the

interstate highways. This approach allows a consolidation of on and off ramps downtown, resulting in

reduced traffic conflict points. The capacity of the corridor is improved and better suited to downtown

traffic patterns than existing conditions.

The 18th Street bridge to Nationwide Children’s Hospital serves as a connection between the hospital to

the south and parking to the north. In a unique partnership between the Hospital, ODOT and Columbus,

plans for the bridge included a wider deck and a planter alternative that was included in the construction

bidding documents. Nationwide Children’s Hospital contributed the cost to the project for the additional

deck width and for the planters that were constructed on the bridge, making it a more appealing

pedestrian connection between the main hospital campus and the north side of the freeway.

D Location Map

The project is located on the southeast side of downtown Columbus, at the junction of I-70 and I-71. The 18th

Street Bridge runs north/south adjacent to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The westbound flyover ramp

from I-70 westbound connects to Mound Street, and the “Urban Avenue” improvements run one-way west

from Washington Avenue to 4th Street.

E Judging Criteria

Project Development Process

1. Project development schedule maintained: Early Action Contract – The Mound Street Connector was

originally intended to be part of the overall construction contract for reconstruction of the entire I-70/I-71

East Interchange, a multi-year project of over $200 Million value. When funding became available due

to unspent funds from other projects, District 6 and ms consultants worked together to isolate a sensible

early action contract that would provide a meaningful traffic safety improvement and facilitate future

construction of the entire East Interchange. The early action contract consisted of the Mound Street

Flyover Ramp (bridge), the 18th Street Bridge, and improvements to Mound Street leading into

downtown. To accomplish this, the design schedule for these elements was accelerated by nearly two

years. Construction of the new ramp eliminates the 4th Street ramp (the most frequent accident location

in the corridor) and reduces the traffic volume through the main portion of the interchange, making

maintenance of traffic for the overall interchange reconstruction simpler and safer.

2. Effective comment and conflict resolution process: The schedule of the project required close

coordination between ODOT, ms consultants and the City of Columbus. Other stakeholders, such as

utility owners and Nationwide Children’s Hospital were also an important part of the review and

comment process. This included frequent design meetings covering constructability, maintenance of

traffic, utility relocations, traffic control, streetscaping and structural design. As comments were received

during staged plan reviews, an important part of the resolution process was to document the intended

disposition of the comments and meeting with stakeholders before the next plan submission. This

allowed the discussion and resolution of any conflicting comments and ensured that stakeholders’ intent

were incorporated into further plan development. Finally, all comments and their dispositions were

documented and distributed along with updated plans so that all reviewers were able to see how their

comments were incorporated into the plans and how the comments of other reviewers were addressed.

3. Cooperative and effective project management: A key to successfully meeting this project schedule and

budget was the close coordination between the ODOT project manager and ms team project manager.

i. Meeting plan submission schedules

ii. Obtaining ODOT comments and input on time

iii. Scheduling and conducting meetings for design input with project stakeholders, such as the City

of Columbus

Another example of the successful management of the project was when an opportunity came up late in

the design process to include planters to the 18th Street bridge, ODOT and ms worked together to keep

the plan development process on schedule. In late 2012, ODOT formed a public-private partnership with

Nationwide Children’s Hospital to include planters on the18th Street bridge, improving the aesthetics of

the structure and enhancing the pedestrian experience while crossing the bridge. Once the agreement was

made with the Hospital, the ms team made revisions to the plans to include a wider bridge deck and

planter details. Through close coordination between ODOT and ms, the plans were revised and the

project was kept on schedule, meeting the deadline for funding.

Plan and Contract Quality

1. Project bid cost relative to budget estimates as a measure of fiscal planning. The construction budget

estimate for the Mound Street Connector was $34.5 million in November 2011. The award amount was

$27,257,829 on May 24, 2014.

2. Quantity variations

Total number of bid items on project(s): There were 634 bid items on this project.

Number of items for which the final quantity was within 2% of the quantity as let: The final quantity

was within 2% of the quantity as let for 417 of these bid items.

3. Contract Change Orders

Number and value of change orders. Explain why changes were needed.

Number of design related changes. Explain why changes were needed.

Dollar change from “as let” cost due to CCO's and quantity revisions

Change

Order

No.

Design

Related Value Explanation

001 $341,378 Nationwide Children's Hospital requested the bid alternative planters for the 18th Street bridge be added to

the project

002 ($89,986) Work to be non-performed as a result of Change Order 001

003 $2,400 Value engineering change to maintain one open lane at all times on the 18th Street bridge during

reconstruction

004 ($70,000) Value Engineering Cost Proposal to eliminate temporary utility support

005 $65,200 Value Engineering Cost Proposal to eliminate temporary utility support

006 $0 Permissive change order to alter maintenance of traffic

007 $0 Permissive change order to alter maintenance of traffic

008 $128,000 Added line items for undercutting in lieu of cement stabilazation to avoid shallow utilities found along

Mound Street

009 ($148,517) Deducted cement stabilazation, based on Change Order 008

010 $40,293 Changes to proposed drainage work related to utilities found in different locations than shown on the plans

and the discovery of an old, buried signal pole foundation that had to be removed.

011 $0 Permissive change order to alter maintenance of traffic

012 Y $112,951 Changes to proposed drainage work related to utilities found in different locations than shown on the plans

and differences between plan and actual quantities for substructure concrete.

013 $81,466 Changes to proposed work related to utilities found in different locations than shown on the plans and the

discovery of an overhead sign foundation that had to be removed

014 $0 Revision to completion date due to weather

015 $0 Revision to completion date due to additional time required for work performed by AEP

016 Y $100,000 Differences between plan quantity and actual quantity for roller compacted concrete

017 Y $30,272 Differences between plan quantity and actual quantity for roller compacted concrete

018 $19,043 Repairs were required to impact attenuators

019 $7,875 Additional waterline work to install a tapping sleeve and valve to maintain water service at Nationwide

Children's Hospital

020 $28,081 Additional work to reroute Columbus interconnect cable at City's request

021 $126,840 Differences between plan quantity and field measurements of constructed items to meet field conditions

022 $58,738 Parking meter fees paid to Columbus and additional waterline work requested by City

023 $36,540 House demolition on recently purchased ODOT right of way, originally planned for later construction

contract.

024 Y $51,776 Revisions to plan quantities for conduits

025 $20,019 Additional work for drainage to bore under ramp from southbound I-71 to westbound I-70

026 ($107,980) Quantities deleted based on Change Orders 008 and 025

027 $1,830 Change in pad mounted transformer requested by Columbus

028 $0 Revision to completion date due to weather

029 Y ($25,047) Quantities deleted based on Change Order 024

030 $79,644 Changes to proposed drainage work related to utilities found in different locations than shown on the plans

031 $0 Revision to completion date due to weather

032 $0 Revision to completion date due coordination with adjacent construction project

033 $0 Revision to completion date due to weather for growing season

034 ($273,150) Differences between plan quantity and field measurements of constructed items to meet field conditions

035 Y $32,017 Revision to plan quantities for concrete barrier

036 $15,082 Revisions to add sump to electric vault requested by Columbus and additional communication cable work.

037 $73,980 Additional overwinter work required by the contractor, additional barrier requested by Columbus and

changes made to westbound I-70 lanes

038 ($144,099) Difference between estimated plan quantities and final quantities

039 $1,455 Difference between estimated plan quantities and final quantities

040 $0 Revision to completion date due to punch list

041 $4,502 Signal modification at Mound and 4th Street as requested by Columbus

$600,603 Total Dollar Change from As-Let Cost

Cost change as percentage of as let cost: The total cost change was 2 percent of the as let cost of the

project, a relatively low percentage for a complex urban project.

4. Addenda

Number of addenda issued prior to letting: 5

General nature and change in construction cost for each addenda

Addendum A. Funding splits were revised in the Proposal. No change to the construction cost

resulting from this revision.

Addendum B. Revisions were made to the plan to incorporate additional curb mounted decorative fence

along Mound Street as requested by Columbus and additional cement stabilization items. Based on

prices bid, the change in construction cost was $416,566 (1.5 percent of award amount).

Addendum C. Salvage items for granite curb and brick pavers were added to the project as requested by

Columbus. Additional undercut was included in the plans for intersections, in lieu of cement

stabilization to provide more flexibility for intersection reconstruction within the required 30 day

construction limit. Based on the prices bid, the change in construction cost was $203,239 (0.7 percent of

the award amount).

Addendum D. Bid letting date was revised. No change to the construction cost resulting from this

revision.

Addendum E. The quantity was revised for the traffic signal conduit. Based on the prices bid, the

change in construction cost was -$2,275 (0.0 percent of the award amount).

Cost Change – (-2,275.00)

Alignment and Location Design

1. Alternatives – Number and general nature of alternative alignments including relationship to location of

existing roadway. See below.

2. Alignment fit – Efforts to fit to topography thereby minimizing cuts and fills, allowing flatter backslopes,

more gradual driveway slopes, etc. See below.

3. Design practices – Safety and maintenance-related considerations incorporated into design. (Improving

vision, raising grade through marshes, etc.)

The Mound Street Connector was part of the preferred alternative for the I-70/I-71 South Innerbelt Study

to improve safety and reduce congestion for the freeway corridor. As part of this study, multiple

alternatives were considered the initial including:

Rerouting traffic and upgrading SR 104

Rerouting I-71 traffic to I-670 and SR 315

Improving the existing I-70/I-71 corridor, and

Adding through truck-only lanes

The evaluation of these concepts led to the recommendation to improve the existing I-70/I-71 corridor.

Seven alternatives to improve the corridor were developed, including:

One way pair, urban corridor streets

Tunnel under existing freeway to carry through traffic

Freeway level collector-distributor roads

Urbanized freeway system with additional lanes and improvements to existing ramps

Reroute traffic to SR 104 and develop an arterial boulevard along I-70

Two-way urban corridor street, decked over the freeway

Two-way urban corridor street using existing city street network.

The evaluation of these alternatives led to the recommendation to develop a one-way pair of urban

avenues, either along Fulton Street and Livingston Avenue, or along Mound Street and Fulton Street.

After an assessment of these two alternatives, the preferred alternative was approved, using alignments

that connect with the existing Mound Street and Fulton Street. This alternative improved safety, while

reducing congestion and resulting in the least impacts to downtown Columbus by using the existing street

corridors for most of the urban avenue alignments.

The Mound Street Connector Project is the first step in ODOT’s work to improve safety along the I-70/I-

71 overlap by eliminating the 4th Street exit ramp – the site of the highest number of crashes along the I-

70/I-71 corridor. Replacing this ramp with the new Mound Street Connector will allow westbound I-70

traffic to safely exit the freeway to downtown, east of I-71. This will eliminate the dangerous lane

changes that used to occur at 4th Street, where I-71 traffic would attempt to make a series of rapid lane

changes to exit the freeway. By constructing the Mound Street Connector, access to downtown is

improved by connecting this ramp into a new, one-way Mound Street.

The location of the new Mound Street ramp took advantage of the existing right of way occupied by the

I-70/I-71 East Interchange by using a bridge that would go over the existing interchange ramps and direct

traffic to the existing Mound Street right of way. This reduced the amount of right of way that would be

needed for the project in this densely developed downtown corridor.

Mound Street was reconstructed as part of this project to create a new urban avenue that would allow

traffic to access the downtown street grid at signalized intersections. The new Mound Street was

designed with wider sidewalks, brick crosswalks and shorter pedestrian crossings at intersections, using

bulb-outs. The use of brick crosswalks not only improved the appearance of the corridor, it improved the

visibility and awareness of pedestrian crossings along the street. These features improved safety for

pedestrians along the corridor.

In addition, new bike lanes were included in the project, providing space for bicyclists to safely ride

along Mound Street.

The safety of Mound Street was further improved by incorporating streetscaping and “Complete Streets”

elements that provided for a more comfortable environment for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users.

These elements included street trees, on-street parallel parking, new decorative street lighting and

decorative traffic signal mast arms.

Cost-Effective Design

1. Design elements which reduced costs. Identify this impact in terms of ODOT construction cost, cost to

traveling public, or cost to entire public:

Haunched Girder Design – The haunched girder design was not intended simply for improved aesthetics.

The reduced superstructure depth over the ramps and streets below the bridges allowed for a lower ramp

and street profiles. The lower profile along the new Mound Street ramp bridge allowed for two major

cost saving items. First, at the west abutment, the bridge could be tied into the existing Mound Street

profile. Due to the existing intersection, driveways, and buildings at this end of the bridge, raising the

Mound Street profile would have been very difficult and expensive. Second, lowering the profile allowed

the bridge to be shortened at the east abutment. While conventional wisdom states that haunched girders

are much more expensive than constant depth girders, the bid price awarded for the steel girders was

$1.50 per pound, compared to $1.52 per pound statewide average bid for Level 5 steel in 2013. The lower

profile along the 18th Street bridge minimized the length of street that needed to be reconstructed with the

project. At 18th Street, the bid price of steel was $1.63. This is 7% higher than the statewide average, but

due to savings by not having to raise the profile of 18th Street or lower the profile of I-70, the additional

cost resulted in a net savings.

Spread Footings on Soil – All bridge piers and the forward abutment were designed using spread footings

on soil as the foundation type. Bedrock was not encountered in the borings. The existing soil consisted of

glacial till material with frequent presence of boulders. Driving friction piles in such conditions would

have been very difficult, so the design team recommended spread footings on soil. Despite having to

account for differential settlements in the superstructure design, this decision resulted in a significant

design savings compared to deep foundations.

Drilled Shaft Wall Abutment – The west abutment is immediately adjacent to multi-story commercial

structures at each corner. Proposed shoring required to construct the west abutment would have been up

to 30 feet tall with no room for tie backs due to the buildings. Concerned that the large deflections of 30

foot tall cantilevered shoring would result in potential damage to the existing buildings, the design team

recommended using a wall of adjacent drilled shafts as the west bridge abutment. This top-down

construction technique eliminates the need for any shoring and provides a sufficient stiffness without

tiebacks to avoid damage to the existing buildings. To conceal the exposed drilled shafts, ms consultants

developed a unique precast fascia wall detail that has become a model design for drilled shaft walls

throughout other projects with drilled shaft retaining walls on the I-70/I-71 corridor.

Retaining Walls – Preliminary studies indicated that the north abutment of the 18th Street bridge and

adjacent retaining walls would be built as drilled shaft walls. This wall type was selected to eliminate

very tall temporary shoring and prevent impacts to existing buildings. The geotechnical investigation

revealed granular soils and a high water table near the abutment, as a result the drilled shaft embedment

depths became very long and expensive to build.

An economic analysis was performed to determine the feasibility of change the design of the abutment

and walls to cast-in-place cantilever on spread footings. The study indicated the most cost effective

option to optimize the overall cost of walls, foundations, temporary shoring, utilities, and right-of-way

was to design a cast-in-place structure on spread footings. Temporary shoring was minimized by

obtaining right-of-way at the NE corner of the bridge so a 2-car garage could be removed. This additional

right-of-way reduced the required shoring height significantly, eliminating any need for elaborate shoring

schemes such as tiebacks.

In construction, the Contractor further optimized the shoring cost by negotiating an agreement with an

additional property owner to change driveway access to their garage, allowing the shoring needs to be

further reduced.

Innovations in the design of the bridge including haunched girders, spread footings on soil, and the

drilled shaft abutment wall resulted in a structure constructed for $156 per square foot. By comparison,

the two similar flyover structures on the I-670 design-build project were reportedly build for $170 to

$180 per square foot.

2. Project Maintainability:

As part of the planning for the I-70/I-71 South Innerbelt Study, the ms consultants team and ODOT

conducted a series of community and stakeholder meetings to develop an aesthetic enhancements plan

with community input for streetscaping elements along the new and improved City streets. A Design

Enhancement Manual was prepared for use in the future design of the project, to ensure continuity

through all of the project phases. This plan adopted some of the elements of the Columbus Downtown

Streetscape Plan. Streetscape features along Mound Street were planned to conform with this Manual,

including decorative street lights, traffic signal mast arms, and fencing. This avoided the need for

Columbus to stock additional replacement parts and allowed for the use of parts that were already in

stock for use in other areas of the City.

The type of brick used for crosswalks and sidewalk areas was identified in the manual and used for this

project so that all of the new urban avenues would have the same materials, allowing for stocking of

common replacements.

Complexity of Design

The complexity of design begins at the planning stage for this project. The corridor planning, led by ODOT

District 6 and ms consultants is one of the most complex planning projects ever undertaken by ODOT. This

bridge is just one small part of a huge undertaking to avert congestion and frequent traffic accidents in this

heavily travelled area.

1. Unusual, non-standard, or innovative design features and practices

For the bridge structure itself, complexity of design and construction is demonstrated by the following

factors:

- Potential substructure locations were tightly constrained by existing interstate ramps and City streets.

These constraints, along with commitments to keep all ramps and City street traffic operating throughout

construction resulted in complexity in determining where substructure units could be built and where

steel could be erected from and temporarily supported during erection without affecting traffic patterns or

existing structures.

- Structural analysis of curved girders always increases the complexity of superstructure design. Coupled

with designing the haunched girder sections, this led to unique design challenges.

- Design of the drilled shaft wall abutment was challenging from a structural and geotechnical standpoint.

Numerous iterations of design and close coordination was required between the structural and

geotechnical engineer to design a drilled shaft wall that used an economical shaft size but provided

sufficient stiffness to minimize deflections, protecting the existing buildings from damage and providing

a serviceable design for supporting the new bridge.

- Design of spread footings on soil required close coordination between the structural and geotechnical

engineers and numerous iterations of design. Per AASHTO specifications, bearing capacity of spread

footings on soil is dependent on the effective footing size, so the capacity is not a fixed value, but rather

varies with every single load case. In addition, anticipated settlement of the spread footings resulted in

the need for multiple superstructure analyses to account for all possible differential settlement scenarios.

2. New technology and products used

N/A

3. Degree of coordination and timing:

Extensive coordination with the City of Columbus, community stakeholders and the traveling public.

This project involved construction along two National Primary Highway Freight System routes which

also serve as major arteries for commuters going to and from Downtown Columbus. A comprehensive

maintenance of traffic plan was developed to identify time limits permitted for lane closures during the

construction of the project. This included:

a. the closure of Mound Street to through traffic, while maintaining local, business access

b. allowable closure times for intersecting cross streets

c. allowable lane closures along I-70, I-71 and freeway ramps for the construction of bridge piers,

abutments and approaches

d. permitted times for freeway closures to allow for the demolition and lifting of new girders for the

18th Street bridge and the Mound Street flyover bridge.

A key stakeholder in this planning was the adjacent Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Not only is the

Hospital a major employer in the area, it more importantly served a critical service to Central Ohio as a

Level 1 trauma facility for children. For this reason, easy access to the hospital at all times, day and

night, was essential.

Another major stakeholder for this project was the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). The project

not only effected local bus routes during construction, the closure of the 4th Street exit ramp would also

result in changes to their express bus route into downtown. ODOT and the ms consultants team held

meetings with COTA and the City of Columbus to plan street closures required for the construction of

the project, temporary bus stop locations during these closures and new permanent bus stop locations that

would be constructed as part of this project. As part of this coordination, it was necessary to review each

subsequent construction phase of the I-70/I-71 corridor projects so that each phase would construct the

bus stop locations needed for the ultimate traffic configuration.

4. Number and type of controls governing:

While ODOT standards were used for the design and construction specifications for work along the

interstate, it was necessary to also incorporate the use of City of Columbus design standards and

construction specifications for work along the City streets and public utilities. Since ODOT was to

oversee the construction of the project, it was necessary to specifically identify features of the project

that would be governed by Columbus standards and specifications. As part of the design development,

meetings were held with the Columbus Department of Public Service and Department of Public Utilities

to determine where Columbus standards and specifications are applicable. As part of this process, it was

important to make sure that these standards were compliant with ODOT and FHWA requirements.

In 2010, ODOT identified the I-70/I-71 South Innerbelt project as a Complete Streets pilot project. The

ms consultants team and ODOT conducted a series of workshop meetings with community stakeholders

and City representatives to develop a plan for the proposed urban avenues that included bike lanes,

sidewalks, on-street parking, tree lawns and streetscaping.

The Design Enhancement Manual that was prepared during the project planning was used as a guide for

the design of the Mound Street streetscape, the 18th Street bridge and retaining walls.

5. Number of traffic control stages:

There were twelve phases of traffic control to maintain traffic during construction along Interstates 70

and 71, as well as local street traffic along Mound Street, Grant Avenue and 18th Street as described in

Degree of coordination and timing, above.

Community Sensitive Design

1. Mitigation of Adverse Impact on Public During Construction:

A comprehensive maintenance of traffic plan was developed for this project that would allow for traffic

to be maintained for this critical freight corridor. This included maintaining through traffic on the

interstates, commuter traffic on the ramps used to access downtown, and local traffic on the city streets.

Additionally, the ms consultants team undertook a construction noise study to assess the impacts of

construction related noise along the corridor. The results of this study required the construction to not

only comply with Columbus’ noise ordinances, but also to:

Limit the idling of vehicle and equipment engines

Use certified exhaust mufflers on these engines

Minimize the routing of construction equipment through city streets

Use solar powered message signs and arrow panels

Utilize electric saws rather than gasoline or air powered saws

A vibration study was conducted by the ms team in order to evaluate the potential vibration due to

construction. This led to requirements included in the project plans to:

Retain a vibration specialist and conduct a pre-construction survey

Prohibit the use of vibratory rollers in areas near residences

2. Preservation of Natural Areas: N/A

3. Reestablishment of Natural Vegetation or Wetlands: N/A

4. Preservation of Historical and Archeological Features:

While there were not historic sites or districts immediately adjacent to the project site, the maintenance

of traffic plan was developed to ensure that this project did not interfere with access to:

The Hannah Neil House

Near East Side Historic District

The South High Commercial Group Historic District

The Former Ohio Asylum for the Blind

St. John’s Evangelical Church and

The Delmonte Apartments Building 5. Enhancement of Cultural Resources: N/A

6. Community Sensitive Design and 7. Overall Aesthetic Appeal:

The Mound Street Connector Project incorporated the principles of “complete streets” design for the

planning of Mound Street. Additionally, The Design Enhancement Manual that was prepared during the

project planning was used as a guide for the design of the Mound Street streetscape, the 18th Street

bridge and retaining walls. Both the complete streets elements and the design enhancement components

were the result of a series of workshops and public meetings that were held with the community.

In partnership with the City of Columbus and MORPC, the Mound Street included:

Decorative street lights and traffic signal mast arms

Brick crosswalks and sidewalk “bulb-outs” at intersections

Granite curbs

Street trees

On-street parking locations

Fencing

The Design Enhancement Manual also provided guidance on the design elements for all of the bridges in

the project. The flyover bridge continued the pier aesthetic design that was first construction on the I-

71/I-670 project. The black painted steel girders and retaining wall patterns visible from the freeway

correspond with the Design Enhancement Manual and the I-71/I-670 project. Using common elements

along the freeway will gives a uniform aesthetic appeal to I-70 and I-71.

In a partnership with Nationwide Children’s

Hospital, ODOT and the ms team planned for

planters along the 18th Street bridge deck.

ODOT developed an agreement that allowed

the Hospital to fund the construction of the

planters and their future maintenance.

The bridge is an important connection for

pedestrians crossing the freeway, between the

hospital and their property on the north side of

the freeway. The planters not only added to the

visual appeal of this structure, it created a more

comfortable walking experience along the

street. These aesthetic treatments complement

the improvements that were also made to 18th

Street, just south of the project area.

F Photographs

Photographs are included as JPG files and attached in the email message with the PDF submittal.