Louisville KY is going to be a NIGHTMARE.....

[grimley1968]

Could a ferry be run?

Normally, a ferry might help with calmer water, but the Ohio River can be a very treacherous river to cross, especially if there's been any rain in the last couple of days. After heavy rains the Ohio can behave almost like a white water rapids. Even at its calmest, the Ohio has a very strong current. It's coming out of higher elevations to the east, and that gravity only adds to the current flow. It's not so difficult for a boat pilot to go down the river (with the flow), but it's difficult for even good boat pilots to go straight across. In the spring, forget about it.

Ferries work well in placid rivers and lakes (a la WDW), but not across that portion of the Ohio (nor in Cincy). At best a ferry would only be able to operate about 1/3 of the year, I would guess. And even then, it would probably never be as fast as just dealing with the traffic.

Louisville, and frankly Cincinnati, have a shortage of good bridges, even when they're all operational.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Normally, a ferry might help with calmer water, but the Ohio River can be a very treacherous river to cross, especially if there's been any rain in the last couple of days. After heavy rains the Ohio can behave almost like a white water rapids. Even at its calmest, the Ohio has a very strong current. It's coming out of higher elevations to the east, and that gravity only adds to the current flow. It's not so difficult for a boat pilot to go down the river (with the flow), but it's difficult for even good boat pilots to go straight across. In the spring, forget about it.

Ferries work well in placid rivers and lakes (a la WDW), but not across that portion of the Ohio (nor in Cincy). At best a ferry would only be able to operate about 1/3 of the year, I would guess. And even then, it would probably never be as fast as just dealing with the traffic.

Louisville, and frankly Cincinnati, have a shortage of good bridges, even when they're all operational.

Looks like it's time for this Greater Cincinnatian to chime in.

We do have a ferry, about halfway between the downtown Cincinnati bridges and the I-275 bridge crossing from Kentucky into Indiana. We've taken it a few times (it's close to the airport, and fairly close to where we live in Kentucky). But, even it we're in the neighborhood in Ohio, it's quicker to just continue on to either downtown or I-275.

The I-75 (also known as the Brent Spence) bridge needs a major overhaul. In fact, President Obama is coming to town this Thursday, specifically to tour the bridge. It's one of the bridges mentioned in his remarks to the country several years ago. So I see major problems heading our way in the next few years as well. We do have three other bridges crossing the Ohio River in downtown (including the I-471, Daniel Beard, Bridge). So I don't think it will be horrible. But it will be a pain. We also have the two I-275 bridges, one about 10 miles east of downtown, and the other, about 20 miles west of downtown.

Actually, this won't affect anyone who would take this to avoid the I-64 mess in Louisville. If you're going from Chicago to Orlando via I-74, you would get off of I-74 at I-275 and take that to I-75 in Kentucky. You don't come within 20 miles of downtown. You might think it's strange that you'll be traveling from Indiana to Ohio, back into Indiana until you cross the bridge into Kentucky. That's the way it is.

And for those traveling from Michigan and Ontario, you can bypass the traffic by taking I-275 (probably east) around Cincinnati into Kentucky.

All this is officially conjecture, but I can't see some kind of work not being done on the Brent Spence Bridge.

 

[dyna]

Yes IN/KY has argued over where to put bridge for most of my life. Esp ever since I265 was built it open on the IN side late 1976 it was decided then that a bridge would be built later to connect IN/KY

How can you have an Interstate Hwy for 36/37 yrs that does not connect to another state....interstates connect with other states that is why they called interstates lol