The State of Ohio yesterday approved spending $2.4 million to move ahead with the design of the new I-71 interchange at Martin Luther King Blvd. The detailed design process will also include work at the existing south-bound off-ramp at William H. Taft, and the north-bound on-ramp at E. McMillan St., according to this Enquirer article.

The article states that several neighborhoods, including Avondale, Fairview, Clifton, Walnut Hills and University Heights, will benefit from improved access to I-71 in both directions. Uptown institutions such as The Cincinnati Zoo and the University of Cincinnati will also obviously benefit from more direct I-71 access.

For Walnut Hills, this new MLK interchange will finally provide easy south-bound access for Walnut Hills residents who wish to travel downtown or across the river to Newport and Covington. In addition, downtown and Kentucky residents will now be able to travel north-bound on I-71 and have easier access to Walnut Hills and the McMillan Business District.

We will be following this project very closely in the coming month and years, as it moves from design to right-of-way acquisition and finally to actual construction.

Read more about the approval of design funds for this project in the Cincinnati Enquirer article: ‘MLK Interchange takes next step’