Road Diet Leaves Some Hungry
Since the 1950’s when Columbus embraced the post-war sub-urbanization movement, traffic engineers and planners have worked tirelessly to move people in and out of the urban core as quickly as possible. An excellent pre-freeway example of this is North 4th Street and Summit/North 3rd street as those thoroughfares leave downtown, enter Italian Village, Weinland Park and the University District before terminating at Hudson Street. They have become mini-freeways, whisking people to Clintonville and points beyond.
It didn't use to be that way. Note that you can drive south on Summit Street and suddenly when you arrive downtown, you are on 3rd Street. That is because unlike North 4th Street that historically connected downtown with Italian Village, these two streets were once separate and unconnected. In fact, Summit used to terminate at Warren Street. The city’s traffic engineers determined that the best way to move northern traffic in and out of downtown was to create one-way parallels. In other words, two streets, a block away from one another, with four dedicated lanes in each direction.
After years of citizen engagement, 2015 will prove to be a landmark year for Summit and North 4th Streets. The streets will NOT be returned to two-way traffic as many residents requested, but the streets will be going on a road diet. Both streets will have a dedicated bike lane, two lanes of parking and two lanes of traffic. There will be no rush hour parking restrictions, which means there will be only two traffic lanes 24/7; a scenario that neighbors hope will slow down vehicles or divert them to the freeway is they have a destination that is further north. Furthermore, these will be the city’s first bikes lanes that are physically separated from vehicular traffic. The city is unsure if this will be accomplished through the installation of bollards, a curb or other means. However the means, bicycle enthusiasts are pleased with this additional layer of safety.
Brian Higgins
