If it’s not a tow truck or ambulance slowing motorists due to an accident, it’s likely just heavy eastbound traffic flow from those trying to get home to Delaware County or Westerville from the west.
And the Ohio Department of Transportation is aware of the “North Side Nightmare,” a perennial mix of merging lanes and outerbelt speeders.
ODOT’s solution is to add a second lane to the bridge from eastbound 270 to northbound 71. Currently, a single lane carries vehicles through a sharp left turn that then merges into northbound traffic into the Polaris region and beyond. Semi tractors often slow and sometimes become disabled, backing up eastbound traffic for miles.
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The project is intended to reduce crashes by increasing roadway capacity, ODOT says. Work is scheduled to begin next year and could last two construction seasons.
Worthington officials have long sought improvements. “… vehicles that are merging to slow down and access the ramps are forced to merge with vehicles that are accelerating to access the through lanes,” Robyn Stewart, acting city manager wrote to ODOT this week. The city responded to 83 crashes along a 2-mile stretch of freeway.