page_title: Fort Washington Way
section_title: Reconstruction
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Washington Way / History / Reconstruction
caption_attribution_description: English: The site of The Banks project in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 6, 2011.
context_page_description: Fort Washington Way is an approximately 0.9-mile-long section of freeway in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The eight-lane divided highway is a concurrent section of Interstate 71 and U.S. Route 50 that runs from west to east from an interchange with I-75 at the Brent Spence Bridge to the Lytle Tunnel and Columbia Parkway.
  Fort Washington Way is named after Fort Washington, a fort that preceded the establishment of Cincinnati. One of the city's first freeways, it was conceived in 1946 as the Third Street Distributor in conjunction with a major urban renewal project along the riverfront. It opened in 1961 after one of the most expensive road construction projects per mile in the United States. Fort Washington Way's complex system of ramps made it the most crash-prone mile of urban freeway in Ohio. During the late 1990s, it was rebuilt with a simpler, more compact configuration, improving traffic safety and facilitating the riverfront's redevelopment as The Banks.
context_section_description: Fort Washington Way was originally designed to accommodate 90,000 vehicles per day of local traffic. By July 1998, however, traffic had risen to 120,000 vehicles per day. The highway was the most crash-prone mile of urban freeway in Ohio, due to high traffic volumes and the system of 14 interwoven entrance and exit ramps, many of them on the left.
  From July 6, 1998, to August 18, 2000, the Fort Washington Way 2000 project completely rebuilt the highway with a more compact configuration, eliminating most ramps. Second Street (the former Pete Rose Way) was reconfigured, and the Riverfront Transit Center was eventually built beside the freeway trench. Albert Sabin Park at Third and Elm streets was demolished. Together, these changes freed up more than 14 acres (5.7 ha) for redevelopment. Within a few years of Fort Washington Way's reconstruction, Hamilton County would use this newly available space to replace Riverfront Stadium with Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium and begin redeveloping the central riverfront as The Banks. At the last minute, Cincinnati city officials decided to drive pilings into the ground that would someday allow the highway's central portion to be covered with a park. The park would link the riverfront with the central business district for the first time in decades.
  The Fort Washington Way 2000 project was originally estimated at $96 million but eventually cost $314 million. The project finished on time and under budget. It required 1.5 million hours of labor, more than 84 miles (135 km) of steel, and nearly 175,000 short tons (156,000 long tons; 159,000 t) of concrete. The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments initiated the project's design phase, while the City of Cincinnati led construction efforts. The project was funded by multiple federal, state, and local agencies, including the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Additional funding came from a bond fund that was used to complete Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway.
caption: The Banks (center) and Fort Washington Way (bottom) in 2011.
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