Getting around downtown Cincinnati

[harmony29]

I know most of you guys are in the area, im leaving the house right now and know we are going to hit 5 o'clock rush hour and don't know how to get around it. We are coming from 71 East to 75 north. Any tips are appreciated.

[teenageninja]

Just use google maps.  It'll give you the best route.  It's very accurate from day to day.  The traffic patterns are different nearly every day.

Also, not sure why you would go from 71 to 75.  KI is right off of 71N.  That is most certainly NOT the way to go.

[harmony29]

Well Google maps does not give you back roads to get around rush hour traffic.

Where we are coming from it is much faster to do 71 to 75 back to 71, we have tried straight 71 and it's quite a bit longer. We have tried every main road route and this is the quickest by about 15 minutes.

[TheRickster]

Google maps will re-route you around traffic if you're connected to data.

[silver2005]

Is this a route you take every day?  If so, what are your starting and ending locations?

[timfsu2k]

Too late for this trip, but I always take the 275 bypass.  It's a little bit longer but to me anything is better than driving through Cincy.

[AnyPancakes]

Always use the Waze app. It takes you on the fastest route possible in real time. Also Cincinnati is a big place and there is a lot of traffic no matter where you go. 

[harmony29]

 We ran into heavy traffic, probably a good 45 min delay unfortunately. We live in Kentucky and take 71/75 north into Cincinnati. I had Google maps on, it did not reroute us and also Waze. I was just hoping for some tips from someone that actually lives in the area. We still went to the park and enjoyed ERT time but just wish we could have gotten around that traffic.

[harmony29]

14 hours ago, silver2005 said:

Is this a route you take every day?  If so, what are your starting and ending locations?

We start in Frankfort Kentucky and take 127 to 71/75 north and end at KI.

[silver2005]

Then I-275 E is your best option for getting around downtown.  I-275 W takes you a bit more out of the way as it swings all the way out to Indiana.  You'd be using about 2/3 of the loop to get to I-71 that way.  I-71 makes a more eastward path, so going east on the loop would be ideal.    

[Tera Ryzing]

You can wait or take more time to take a detour.  Or come during non traffic times.

[harmony29]

1 minute ago, Tera Ryzing said:

You can wait or take more time to take a detour.  Or come during non traffic times.

Usually we work around it, this was just a last minute thing and unfortunately there just was no way around it, I wanted to go for ERT.

[Tera Ryzing]

21 minutes ago, harmony29 said:

Usually we work around it, this was just a last minute thing and unfortunately there just was no way around it, I wanted to go for ERT.

Just saying that taking alternate back roads adds time so it's a wash.  Google is not rerouting you cause you are still on the fastest route.

[KImom]

I agree...we come from KY as well and unless the interstate is a parking lot, you're better off going slower straight through than trying any of the alternate routes. I wish there were a better way! 

[FoF96"]

What time do you all go? I have never run into traffic in Cincinnati on 71N on the way to KI.  I usually leave Louisville by 8 so I can be at park by 10 

[harmony29]

3 hours ago, FoF96" said:

What time do you all go? I have never run into traffic in Cincinnati on 71N on the way to KI.  I usually leave Louisville by 8 so I can be at park by 10 

We are talking 4-5pm in the afternoon, not morning. And yes it was an absolute parking lot yesterday, we didn't get to the park until 645pm.

[FoF96"]

Ah.  I have no experience around that time.  In the mornings, the only spot with occasional moderate traffic is going down the hill onto the bridge.  After that, it usually clears up reasonably well. .

[teenageninja]

I can tell you without a doubt, there are no back roads that are going to save you time.  Unfortunately, Cincinnati has very bad traffic at rush hour basically from the I75 cut in the hill all the way up to 275 just south of Kings Island.

Occasionally 275 will not be as backed up, but I assure you, if Google Maps or Waze didn't re-route you, then there wasn't an option.

[Oldiesmann]

For future reference, you can go to the Google Maps website and get directions that take into account when you're planning to leave or want to arrive at your destination - that will give you the typical travel times for the date/time you chose and, if you choose when you want to arrive, recommend when you need to leave in order to get to your destination on time.

[Jiddle]

If you want to by-pass downtown, the easiest would be follow your normal route to the 75/71 merge and then follow 275 east.  This will dump you back on 71 north just a little south of Kings Island.