Bike Lanes To Be Installed On Ohio and Champion Avenues, Enhanced On Spring and Long Streets
The City
of Columbus will take another step forward to help bicyclists and motorists
share the road safely and legally with the addition of bike lanes on Ohio and
Champion avenues between Mt. Vernon Avenue and Cole Street. In addition,
improvements will be made to the bike lanes installed on Spring and Long
streets Downtown in 2014. The work is scheduled to begin August 21, 2015,
weather permitting
“We are
investing in more bike lanes, sharrows and signage to make connections so
bicyclists can ride safely throughout neighborhoods citywide and downtown,”
said Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “We want to make Columbus one of the top
cities in the nation to ride bikes to and from work, shops and restaurants and
for recreation and exercise.”
The new
bike lanes on Ohio and Champion avenues will connect to existing bike lanes on
South Ohio Avenue and sharrow pavement markings on South Champion Avenue, both
south of I-70, and to sharrows on Bryden Road, adding to a growing continuous
network of bicycle facilities in Columbus. The work is scheduled to be
completed by October 2015, weather permitting. Improvements to bike lanes
on Spring and Long streets will include the addition of bicycle Queue Boxes
that will provide cyclists safe alternatives to traditional left turns in
multi-lane Downtown traffic.
“The City is working very hard to make sure that all of
our neighborhoods feel like home,” said Councilmember Shannon G. Hardin, chair
of the Public Service and Transportation Committee. “Connecting our
neighborhoods so that bicyclists can travel from adjoining communities is the
first step in laying the foundations of a healthy and vibrant city.”
The Queue Boxes will be
installed at the following intersections:
- East Spring Street and North 3rd
Street
- East Spring Street and North Grant Avenue
- East Spring Street and Cleveland Avenue
- East Spring Street and Lester Avenue
- East Spring Street and Elijah Pierce Avenue
Green Queue Boxes will be
installed on the right curb lanes on Spring Street and the right curb lanes on
each of the five cross streets. Queue Boxes allow a cyclist to make a
two-step L-shaped turn as an alternative to a conventional left turn with
requires a cyclist to cross lanes to their left. The installation of the Queue Boxes will be done following
resurfacing and the installation of bike lanes of 3
rd Street and 4
th
Street Downtown. The 3
rd Street and 4
th Street work
is scheduled for completion in October 2015, weather permitting. With the
end of construction season set for November as temperatures drop and winter
weather begins to move into the area, installation of the Queue Boxes may be
scheduled for Spring 2016.
Additional enhancements to
existing bike lanes on Long Street between Hamilton Avenue and Neil Avenue and
Spring Street between Hamilton Avenue and Marconi Boulevard will include:
- A refreshing of the existing bike lane
markings
- The addition of bike lane signage on both
streets
- A two-foot wide car door buffer zone
between the vehicle parking lanes and the bike lanes, which will reduce the
chances of bike collisions with car doors as they are opened
Construction
of the improvements on Spring and Long streets is scheduled to be completed by
early November 2015, weather permitting. The cost of the project is
$468,222.
Click here for a queue box graphic.