#split project

“Kalm & Khaos’s breakfast”

This is the first (and only) picture I took for my project Split, almost 7 years ago. This project was pretty simple, actually. I wanted to show the two mainly parts of myself so let me introduce them to you.

On the left, drinking, this is Kalm, the sweet part of me. She’s the one who loves to take care of others, cute things, who tries to do all the good things in the world, the romantic/cheesy and shy one. She’s the one people know the most. 

On the right, this is Khaos, the one I try to hide because... because she’s a bitch. She’s not really mean but she doesn’t really care about a lot of things except her cats and cigarettes. She can be really sadistic and violent with her words and loves violent/bloody things. She’s also the naughty one (so the one who read all the f*cking smuts you demons write on this Hellsite).

Once Phase I of that massive project around I-70 / I-71 / I-670 is completed in 2014, motorists will have a brief reprieve until Phase II begins....  Approximately 13yrs (from a start date of 2015 to 2028) worth of reprieve.

This raises a number of questions related to closed entrance / exit ramps, construction costs in the future compared to present day dollars, what happened to the need to improve the splits, what happened to the money that was allocated to pay for these projects on the original timeline, what other projects in the State suddenly became so pressing that one of the busiest stretches of interstate in Central Ohio is no longer a priority?

There's answers to all of these questions, of course.  Some as simple and mundane as declining revenue and tighter State budgets.  But, this doesn't answer a more fundamental question - why is our constantly deteriorating infrastructure never a serious priority?

Beginning in September, downtown freeway traffic is going to suck even more than usual for the next half decade or so (give or take a few years). 

When you're stuck in it, just smile & think how much better it will be if you don't move out of the city before it's finished. I mean, I-670 ONLY took about 30yrs to complete and this is just Phase I of the split project (Phase I anticipated to be done somewhere in 2014).

Westerville based construction corporation Kokosing and Columbus designer CH2M came in at $41M under the State's original estimate and anticipates finishing Phase I of the project 1yr ahead of ODOT's original plan.  The total project will take place over a number of years in 3 phases and is anticipated to cost north of $550M.