How will Columbus highway traffic change after closure of Route 315 south ramp to I-70?
The Ohio Department of Transportation shut down the Route 315 southbound ramp to Interstate 70 eastbound on May 15 for multiple years while crews work on reconstructing Columbus' downtown highways.
ODOT's online traffic map, OHGO.com, says the ramp will reopen on June 1, 2028. In the meantime, the posted detour takes motorists on Interstate 670 east to Interstate 71 south to get back on Interstate 70 east from Route 315.
It's too soon to know the exact impact of the ramp's closure, but traffic on I-670 east is expected to increase by 10%-12%, assuming the 13,000 motorists who used to use the Route 315 southbound ramp daily use the posted detour, ODOT public information officer Matthew McGuire said.
These 13,000 ramp refugees would add to the already 90,000 to 120,000 drivers that use I-670 and I-70 near Route 315 every day. Some sections of the highways occasionally spike to 140,000 to 150,000 motorists, McGuire said.
The traffic data on the ramp closure's impact won't be available until mid-June, he added.
"Usually, we want to wait at least a month or so to allow drivers to adjust to the new pattern so that when we take fresh (traffic) count data it accurately reflects what drivers are doing," he said.
The closure is part of ODOT's Downtown Ramp Up project, a $1.4-billion reconstruction of the highways surrounding downtown Columbus. The project, which started in 2010, likely will not be complete until at least 2030.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus traffic: See impact of Route 315 south ramp to I-70 closure
