CENTRAL CINCINNATI
Feb. 25 2008
PART 1
It's the Ice Bowl of Roads Scholaring! The blab predicted better weather, but alas, it was not to be! It wasn't as cold as the photos make it look, but the permacloud kept temperatures down. Still it was the best weather we had the whole month, and the Peace Bike was itching to be taken to the 'Nati again, so off I went!
The stretch of I-471 seen here is where the old (very old) Lock Street used to be, and was built in the 1970s.
This 2-part set kicks off with a big ol' Allowed Cloud! This sign at the Ohio approach of the Newport Southbank Bridge is probably the longest list of rules posted at any public place in the area. Some of them are sensible, like the one about throwing Ziploc bags full of dog vomit from the bridge. But some of them are bunk, like the one against "shoeless persons." Formerly the L&N Bridge, this span over the Ohio River was rehabbed for bikes, pedestrians, and skateboards - yet skateboards are perversely prohibited.
Southeast on Lytle Place as it enters a tunnel under Fort Washington Way (and its ramp that feeds into 3rd).
Lytle Place goes over Pete Rose Way. (Chomp chomp chomp...whoosh...) This is looking southwest on Pete Rose. You can see Riverfront Coliseum, and straight ahead you can see part of the Reds' ballpark. On the right you see the elevated ramp from 2nd to Fort Washington Way. Pete Rose Way was renamed from 2nd Street in 1985. Until about 2000, before construction of the current baseball stadium, Pete Rose Way used to continue straight.
To quote Night Ranger, "Sentinel Street in the avenues...Take a good hard look, there ain't nothin' ever new..." This is looking northeast on Sentinel where it goes under I-71 - and on the right you can see I-71 going under the East 6th viaduct. Roads Scholars should note that the yellow PREPARE TO STOP WHEN FLASHING sign appears to be one of the internally lit variety that used to be widespread in Cincinnati.
Sines, sines, sines! I have no idea how I ended up here, but this is looking south on I-71 into Lytle Tunnel, which opened in 1969. Sentinel Street is at right.
I'm on the sidewalk of what I call the East 6th viaduct. It's like a long, wide one-way ramp that feeds from Columbia Parkway into 6th. We're looking southeast on Eggleston Avenue, a divided surface street. To the left of that you see I-471 entering the Big Mac Bridge. (The BGS is for KY 8/Newport/Bellevue.) The viaduct going over those roads links 5th with Columbia Parkway and opened in 1938. The background is in Newport.
Mount Adams is a superb but hilly Cincinnati neighborhood. This is looking northwest on Monastery Street at the intersection with Baum and Van Meter.
Looking back towards downtown from Baum. This is the East 6th viaduct going over I-71.
In the olden days there was an incline from downtown to Mount Adams. This is on Baum, looking up at the ruins of the incline. I think the incline went all the way to where that flag is now, which is a couple blocks up from here.
Northwest on Oregon Street. Note the brick pavement.
Southeast on Oregon from the same spot. The road off in the distance is the ramp from northbound I-471 to KY 8 in Newport, which is a ways from here. On the right you can barely see the framework of I-471's Big Mac Bridge.
Southwest on Monastery from Oregon. Narrow streets, high housing density, distinctive architecture, and good downtown views are Mount Adams hallmarks.
Looking northwest from Monastery Street. The large building on the hill is Channel 5's studio, 1½ miles from here. It still featured that exciting late 1990s Channel 5 logo - not the staid Helvetica numeral from before or after.
This set of steps runs from Monastery & Ida down - way down - to Wareham & Elsinore.
We're still going up! This is the view from Celestial Street, trying to hone in on the "progress" of the skyline of Covington, about at the center of the pic. In front of that though you see the Reds stadium, the Coliseum to its left, and One Lytle Place on the far left. The viaduct in the foreground is the Columbia Parkway-5th Street link. Behind downtown Covington and a little to the right, note the snow-coated clearing, which is near I-75.
From the same spot, peep the Ohio approach of the I-471 bridge. Note the 5th Street link going over I-471 in the foreground. The Purple People Bridge - no "shoeless persons" - is the span on the right. Newport of course is across the river.
Northeast on the brick-paved Jerome Street from Celestial.