October 10, 20186 yr On 10/5/2018 at 2:17 PM, Columbo said: A Semi-Truck Driver Confused The Olentangy Bike Path With A Freeway On Ramp And Chaos Ensued Obviously the semi-truck driver made a huge error. But I do have to give him some credit - that bike trail entry does sorta resemble an on-ramp to the 315 freeway in the background! And it was wide enough to accommodate the semi. You can even take a google streetview trip down the Olentangy Trail at https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9660401,-83.0197422,3a,60y,315.89h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sp-kn_l36mZ6_o9Uu_a5Oow!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en There is no applicable reason of why the bike way flares out like that at Spring Street. If additional width is needed so vehicles can get back to the pump station, then that can be accomplished with reinforced turf (green pavement) Formerly "Mr Sparkle"
October 18, 20186 yr First E-Bikes Arrive in Columbus Lime has placed the first rentable e-bikes onto the streets of Columbus. E-bikes, also called pedal assist bikes, are equipped with a battery that provides a pedal-activated power boost. Lime started offering the bikes, which it calls Lime-E, as an option in certain markets in January, but Columbus riders until now could only choose between the company’s traditional bikes and its electric scooters. The new Lime e-bikes cost $1.00 to unlock and 15 cents a minute to ride (the same price as a scooter), while non-electric Lime bikes cost five cents a minute to ride. All three can be located and rented via mobile app and returned anywhere within the service area, which includes most central Columbus neighborhoods. Lime has also placed bikes in Worthington and Dublin. MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/first-e-bikes-arrive-in-columbus-bw1
December 2, 20186 yr Lyft acquires CoGo bike-share parent Motivate Lyft Inc. has acquired the operator of CoGo bike share in Central Ohio, making it the operator of 80 percent of bike-sharing rides nationally. Lyft announced Friday it had completed its acquisition of New York City-based Motivate. ... Lyft is parrying its chief rival in automotive ride-sharing, Uber Technologies Inc., which in April acquired bike-share service Jump Bikes. Motivate Inc. has operated CoGo under a contract with Columbus Recreation and Parks since 2013. Its latest one-year contract expires Jan. 31, after which City Council said it would consider a multi-year extension. CoGo has about 50 stations with nearly 400 bikes in Central Ohio following an expansion to Easton Town Center this summer. It also has stations throughout Columbus and in Bexley, Grandview and Upper Arlington. MORE: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/11/30/lyft-acquires-cogo-bike-share-parent-motivate.html
January 9, 20196 yr MORPC funding could wipe Olentangy Trail’s gap off map Quote The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission on Dec. 18 released a list of proposed new transportation projects around central Ohio that could receive federal funding. That list included nearly $3.5 million to close the Clintonville gap in the Olentangy Trail and to build a pair of bridges to connect it to a trail across the Olentangy River. http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20190107/morpc-funding-could-wipe-olentangy-trails-gap-off-map
April 3, 20196 yr Columbus moving forward on Scioto Trail extension It looks like Columbus wants to start the process of extending the bike trail along the Scioto River. The city's parks and recreation department recently put out a request for proposals for design and engineering to extend the Scioto Trail from its current end point at 5th Avenue to Griggs Park. This project was one of 17 major new projects the department unveiled in 2017 as part of a five-year expansion plan. The Scioto Trail is one of the most prominent of the city's bike trails – about 150,000 people live in a short walk or ride of the path that exists today. It's one of six "green belt" bike trails totaling 92 miles that wind through the city's urban neighborhoods. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/04/03/columbus-moving-forward-on-scioto-trail-extension.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 8, 20196 yr https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190506/columbus-council-approves-deal-to-widen-build-ramp-on-olentangy-trail Construction will start this summer to widen part of the Olentangy Trail and build a ramp to the trail from Bethel Road on the Northwest Side. Columbus City Council voted Monday to approve a contract that would pay Complete General Construction as much as $3.7 million for the project. The Columbus company was the lowest of four bidders. A shared-use path along Bethel Road would link Anheuser Busch Park on Olentangy River Road to a new ramp and tunnel that connects to the trail. More than a mile of the trail, from Bethel Road to Antrim Park, will be widened from 9 feet to 12 feet. The project also will include a tunnel to carry traffic between Bethel Road and the trail. Construction will begin in July, with completion expected in May 2020.
May 9, 20196 yr Olentangy Trail Updates: Detour, Widening and Bridge Plans A portion of the Olentangy Trail will be closed from May 13 to July 12 as construction work ramps up on Founders Park, the 20-acre development on former Battelle parking lots in Harrison West. The trail will be closed between West Fifth and West Third avenues, where users will be detoured east to a separated pathway along Perry Street. More below: https://www.columbusunderground.com/olentangy-trail-updates-detour-widening-and-bridge-plans-bw1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 14, 20196 yr New e-bike systems coming to Columbus this summer (plus a few more scooters mixed in). Probably most notable is Roam Bikes, which locally-owned and features fat-tired bikes with long, cushioned seats to provide a more comfortable ride than traditional bikes: New Scooter Companies, Local E-Bike Startup Set to Enter Columbus Market Three new “micro-mobility” companies have received approval from the City of Columbus to enter the market and are planning summer launches. Jump, which was acquired by Uber last April for $200 million, will deploy both its rentable e-bikes and scooters, while Spin, which was acquired by Ford Motor Company in November, will soon be rolling out its bright orange scooters. Roam Bikes, a startup founded by local entrepreneur Kelly James, plans to deploy 200 e-bikes on the streets of Columbus this June, with a total fleet of about 500 in place by the fall. The three newcomers enter a market that already has Bird and Lime — which both launched here last summer — and CoGo, the docked bike share system that was established in 2013 (and that was acquired by Lyft last fall). MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/new-scooter-companies-local-e-bike-startup-set-to-enter-columbus-market-bw1
June 13, 20196 yr Plan for Temporary Bus Lane on Third Street Concerns Bike Advocates The City of Columbus and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) are moving forward with plans for a demonstration project involving a stretch of Third Street Downtown. Starting on July 22 and running for two weeks, the far right hand lane of the one-way street, between Long and Mound Streets – which currently holds a striped bike lane, as well as about 24 on-street parking spaces – will be opened up for bus travel during the evening rush hour. It is the first of several planned “tactical urbanism” projects, in which temporary, low-cost improvements to streets are made in order to try out new traffic patterns, gather feedback and collect data. ... Transit and cycling advocates were excited about this idea, hopeful that it would help build support for something that has rarely occurred in car-friendly Columbus – taking a portion of the public right of way that is used by single-occupancy vehicles and giving it to buses, bikes and scooters instead. But the news that an existing bike lane – and not a car travel lane – would be used for the first of what the city is calling its “shared mobility lane” projects has been met with concern by many in the biking community. MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/plan-for-temporary-bus-lane-on-third-street-concerns-bike-advocates-bw1
July 26, 20195 yr On 6/13/2019 at 7:23 PM, Columbo said: Plan for Temporary Bus Lane on Third Street Concerns Bike Advocates The City of Columbus and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) are moving forward with plans for a demonstration project involving a stretch of Third Street Downtown. Starting on July 22 and running for two weeks, the far right hand lane of the one-way street, between Long and Mound Streets – which currently holds a striped bike lane, as well as about 24 on-street parking spaces – will be opened up for bus travel during the evening rush hour. It is the first of several planned “tactical urbanism” projects, in which temporary, low-cost improvements to streets are made in order to try out new traffic patterns, gather feedback and collect data. ... Transit and cycling advocates were excited about this idea, hopeful that it would help build support for something that has rarely occurred in car-friendly Columbus – taking a portion of the public right of way that is used by single-occupancy vehicles and giving it to buses, bikes and scooters instead. But the news that an existing bike lane – and not a car travel lane – would be used for the first of what the city is calling its “shared mobility lane” projects has been met with concern by many in the biking community. MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/plan-for-temporary-bus-lane-on-third-street-concerns-bike-advocates-bw1 Okay, I want to give a little opinion and experience run down on this experiment now that it is up and going and maybe ask for bit of info or input. First, since announcement, I was actually pretty receptive of the concept of creating a Bus/Bike Lane for a possibly quick solution to speed up transit while maintaining current infrastructure. With that being said, having now experienced it two days in a row, I have some major issues and concerns. While I am not ready to call this a failure, I really do not see the current form being successful or safe at all. I am a daily bike commuter, I ride in mixed traffic and bike lanes and with that being said, this is the least safe I have ever felt biking downtown... Its a terrible, absolutely terrible. Here's why - Busses are large vehicles, I absolutely felt and believe bus drives are very aware, agile, and respectful of bikers and pedestrians (especially downtown), the bus itself sharing the lane never once felt unsafe but what happens with the busses is where the problems started. Downtown busses stop every few blocks, this automatically puts bikers in groups in a way between the busses that are flowing in the lane from stop tp stop. Because of this that means every time a bus stops or gets stacked (which often happens downtown as well) the biker is forced to make a choice to either wait behind the bus (which can be quite a while if stacked or trying to adjust its route timing) or attempt to merge into traffic lanes to go around while also trying to make sure no cars were trying to turn from the second lane since some of the turn lanes have been moved out of the bus lane configuration. So I guess my question is if there is a solution, or something I am missing because I just don't see how this achieves a whole lot as-is. Overall it felt significantly less safe and functional having to stop, merge, and hope the bus hadn't started moving yet, as opposed to the previous flow. Anyway, just some personal experience for everyone keeping an eye on this stuff. I hope these quirks can be resolved but it feels like a pretty thrown together "looks good on paper" project as it is.
July 26, 20195 yr It seems the best implementation for bike/bus combo lanes would be on arterial roads outside of downtown in neighborhoods so that buses aren't stacking and there aren't frequent stops due to the many things downtown offers in a dense area. Downtown, it likely needs to be separated into 2 lanes.
July 27, 20195 yr Separation of uses is always the ultimate goal. When the volume of of buses and bikes is low it can work. So much of this kind of stuff is quite volume sensitive.
August 20, 20195 yr On 6/13/2019 at 7:23 PM, Columbo said: Plan for Temporary Bus Lane on Third Street Concerns Bike Advocates The City of Columbus and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) are moving forward with plans for a demonstration project involving a stretch of Third Street Downtown. Starting on July 22 and running for two weeks, the far right hand lane of the one-way street, between Long and Mound Streets – which currently holds a striped bike lane, as well as about 24 on-street parking spaces – will be opened up for bus travel during the evening rush hour. It is the first of several planned “tactical urbanism” projects, in which temporary, low-cost improvements to streets are made in order to try out new traffic patterns, gather feedback and collect data. ... Transit and cycling advocates were excited about this idea, hopeful that it would help build support for something that has rarely occurred in car-friendly Columbus – taking a portion of the public right of way that is used by single-occupancy vehicles and giving it to buses, bikes and scooters instead. But the news that an existing bike lane – and not a car travel lane – would be used for the first of what the city is calling its “shared mobility lane” projects has been met with concern by many in the biking community. MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/plan-for-temporary-bus-lane-on-third-street-concerns-bike-advocates-bw1 Test finds bike lane helps COTA buses Downtown Preliminary results from a two-week pilot program show that Central Ohio Transit Authority buses traveled more quickly through Downtown on 3rd Street by using a shared bus-bicycle lane. During the pilot program, the average time dropped from 7 minutes, 45 seconds to 5 minutes, 39 seconds when it ran during evening rush hours — 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays — from July 22 through Aug. 2. Police were stationed along 3rd Street during the trial period. COTA officials have said the southbound-only street often becomes backed up during evening rush hour, delaying buses by 10 to 25 minutes. The city’s Department of Public Service contracted with a company to set up camera-based counters to analyze car, bus, bike and scooter traffic. Preliminary numbers indicated increased bicycle and scooter use during the test. Catherine Girves, a bicycling advocate and executive director of Yay Bikes, said she rode the bus-bike lane and said it could work, but not in a corridor where a bike lane already exists. She said she has concerns about motorists who are confused and try to pull into the bus-bike lane. ... She said that when she rode, she had no close calls with buses, but she did with cars turning right. “Let’s add a bus lane in addition to a bike lane,” she said. “Let’s try it, and let’s do it correctly.” Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said that the results make him want to test more pilot projects. MORE: https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20190817/test-finds-bike-lane-helps-cota--buses-downtown
October 13, 20195 yr These streets are all wide enough to convert to two-way, have a dedicated bus lane and bike lane as well. It's crazy how much right-of-way they have to play with.
November 13, 20195 yr City and COTA Announce Plan for Second Bus Lane Experiment Last summer, the City of Columbus and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) temporarily made one lane of Third Street Downtown open only to buses, bikes and scooters. The new alignment was only in effect during rush hour and lasted for just two weeks, but it yielded data and survey results that could be used to inform the design of future demonstration projects, as well as, perhaps, more permanent solutions to traffic and mobility problems throughout the region. Today the city and COTA announced that a second “mobility innovation test” will take place along a 0.8-mile stretch of North High Street, on November 23. In conjunction with the Ohio State football game against Penn State, the southbound curb lane of High Street – from Dodridge Street to Lane Avenue – will be reserved for buses, bikes and scooters from 10 a.m. until the start of the game at noon. After kickoff, the traffic cones and signs will be moved to the other side of the street, where the northbound curb lane will offer car-free travel until two hours after the game ends. MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/city-and-cota-announce-plan-for-second-bus-lane-experiment-bw1
November 18, 20195 yr Columbus expanding CoGo bike share stations again Columbus plans to expand the CoGo Bike Share program again, including its first electric-powered bikes. The Recreation and Parks Department is seeking City Council approval of $272,000 to add four stations to the network of 72, along with 33 pedal and 30 electric bikes for a total of 681. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Grant of the Smart Columbus initiative would cover $75,000 of the cost, with the rest from city bond funds. Over the summer, council extended through June 2024 the contract with operator Motivate International Inc., which was acquired last year by ride-share company Lyft Inc. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/11/18/columbus-expanding-cogo-bike-share-stations-again.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 14, 20205 yr CoGo Adding E-Bikes, More Stations Big changes are in store for CoGo, the bike share system with the fixed docking stations that has operated in Columbus since 2013. About 250 e-bikes – bikes that are equipped with a battery that provides a pedal-activated boost – will be added to the system’s fleet this spring, along with five new stations. The new electric bikes will also be equipped with a “hybrid locking technology” that will allow riders to either dock them at a CoGo station or lock them to a public bike rack. Also planned are significant changes to the pricing and operation of the system. Starting on January 29, CoGo bikes will be integrated into the Lyft app, meaning that riders can use their existing Lyft accounts to locate and pay for the bikes. ... Motivate, the company that had operated CoGo since its inception, was acquired by Lyft in 2018 (the City of Columbus owns the bikes and stations, and made the initial investment in the system). MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/cogo-adding-e-bikes-more-stations-bw1
March 9, 20205 yr Connector from Olentangy Trail to Bethel Road Now Open A pair of major upgrades to the Olentangy Trail have been completed, including a connector that enables direct access to and from Bethel Road for the first time. The second upgrade is a widening of the trial – from 9 to 12 feet – between Bethel Road and Antrim Lake. The new connector brings users from the trail to a separated path along the north side of Bethel Road, taking them over State Route 315 to Olentangy River Road, where the trail continues to a Central Ohio Transit Authority Park and Ride lot at Anheuser Busch Sports Park. More below: https://www.columbusunderground.com/olentangy-trail-bethel-road-connector-now-open-bw1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 9, 20205 yr That seems to be about a 40% job. Why not do a similar loop on the west side of 315 and tunnel under Bethel? Having to cross the 315 South off ramp, then Bethel, then the Olentangy River Road northbound right turn lane is not in the least bit pedestrian or bicyclist friendly; if not even dangerous.
June 24, 20204 yr CoGo bike share adds motorized e-bikes, membership equity program CoGo Bike Share is adding dockless e-bikes and a reduced membership fee for low-income Columbus-area residents. Motorized bikes with optional pedal assist will roll out on June 30. Columbus is the fifth city where CoGo operator Lyft Inc. is adding the option, after Minneapolis, San Francisco, San Jose and New York City. Unlike traditional bikes that must be inserted into CoGo docking station, the e-bikes have an optional cable lock so they can be parked at any bike rack, although there's an additional fee. The 280 e-bikes add to the fleet of about 700 pedal bikes. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/06/24/cogo-bike-share-adds.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 30, 20204 yr CoGo E-Bikes, Discounted Memberships Now Available CoGo is adding electric bikes to its growing fleet of rentable bikes. The bikes, which are equipped with a battery that provides a pedal-activated boost, are available to rent starting today. Also new to the bike share system is an equity program – called CoGo for All – which will offer $5 annual memberships to any Central Ohio resident who receives SNAP benefits or pays a discounted utility bill. The discounted membership allows for unlimited rides on traditional (non-electric) bikes, as long as each trip is 45 minutes or less. More below: https://www.columbusunderground.com/cogo-e-bikes-discounted-memberships-now-available-bw1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 3, 20214 yr Options Presented for Clintonville Bike Bridges Plans to close the last significant gap in the Olentangy Trail are moving forward. Currently, trail users have to navigate city streets to get from Clinton-Como Park to Northmoor Park (or vice-versa), crossing North Broadway at the Milton Avenue traffic light. Five different alternatives for closing the gap were presented during a virtual meeting last month. Only one of the options calls for keeping the trail on the east side of the Olentangy River – that one would require no new bridges but would require trail users to cross North Broadway mid-block, without a traffic signal (and could also potentially necessitate the demolition of a house that sits on the river’s edge). More below: https://www.columbusunderground.com/options-presented-for-clintonville-bike-bridges-bw1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 18, 20214 yr Large Mural Project Planned for Harrison West Tunnel The Harrison West Society has announced a multi-year project to improve the Olentangy Trail tunnel and the surrounding area, with a local artist at the helm of a large-scale mural at the site. Harrison West Arts President Annie Keener said an idea was floated to update the tunnel under State Route 315 on the Olentangy Trail in Harrison West, which is poorly lit and in an “overgrown” area of the park. However, the project has since grown to include commissioned murals in and around the tunnel by Columbus artist Ashley Pierce. Keener said Pierce’s early sketches for the project have been bright and accessible to a variety of demographics, though staying in line with her traditional style. She said the early ideas have been exciting to see, and that Pierce has the “absolute right vision” for the space. “She has a tremendously great aesthetic that we think is gonna work really wonderfully in the space,” she said. “She’s very passionate about the project as a whole of what it can do for Columbus and the arts landscape of our little pocket of the city.” More below: https://www.columbusunderground.com/large-mural-project-planned-for-harrison-west-tunnel-tm1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 2, 20213 yr Upper Arlington plans shared-use path to connect Lane Avenue to new Quarry Trails Metro Park Nate Ellis - ThisWeek Group - July 1, 2021 "Upper Arlington officials are expected to unveil plans this fall for a new shared-use path that will connect Lane Avenue to what ultimately will be the 226-acre Quarry Trails Metro Park. City officials hope to install the path along the north side of Lane Avenue from Asbury Drive to Riverside Drive. At the terminus of the 1,800-foot shared-use path, the city plans to continue the route on Asbury to Onandaga Drive, to the terminus of Tremont Road, through "sharrow" pavement markings and share-the-road signage. ... In total, the cost of the shared-use path is estimated at approximately $430,500."
August 26, 20213 yr Columbus e-bike company to launch early next year as alternative to scooters An electric bike ride-sharing service will soon launch in Columbus. But unlike many of the Silicon Valley-based companies that are behind similar scooter and shared mobility services, Columbus' foray into e-bikes will be driven by a local company. Columbus-based Trip Bikes will launch in early 2022 with its "fat tire e-bike ride-share" service, according to company founder and president Kelly James, who has several years of experience in the ride-sharing industry. That includes a bamboo bike service in Columbus called Kelly's Green Cycling. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/08/25/columbus-e-bike-ride-sharing-company.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 17, 20213 yr The City of Columbus is considering bike lanes on Indianola from Oakland Park south to Hudson. It appears the intersection of Indianola and Broadway as well as Indianola and Hudson are out of the study. Basically, there will be two car lanes, a center left turn lane, bike lanes in both directions and parking on one side of the street. The bike lanes become sharrows between Weber and Milford allowing parking on both sides of the street in the Studio 35 commercial district. Painted crosswalks will be added in key locations. More here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tHLYRd8Q6GdjTUgnB2QiN_UjguQDL6Yo/view
September 18, 20213 yr Is there any reason given why the parking lane is curbside, instead of the bike lane?
September 18, 20213 yr 3 hours ago, Dev said: Is there any reason given why the parking lane is curbside, instead of the bike lane? Because they designed it wrong. It'd be better to put both bike lanes on the same side, then the parking lane as a buffer, then the car lanes. That would be quite nice. Mindboggling how wide Indianola is. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
September 19, 20213 yr 8 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said: Because they designed it wrong. It'd be better to put both bike lanes on the same side, then the parking lane as a buffer, then the car lanes. That would be quite nice. Mindboggling how wide Indianola is. Yup, that's definitely what I was implying. I was curious if they gave a reason for that during the presentation or if no one called them on it. Alternate 2 has a two-cycle track but without any parking and it's not clear how those numbers work out.
October 4, 20213 yr On 9/17/2021 at 9:43 AM, Pablo said: The City of Columbus is considering bike lanes on Indianola from Oakland Park south to Hudson. It appears the intersection of Indianola and Broadway as well as Indianola and Hudson are out of the study. Basically, there will be two car lanes, a center left turn lane, bike lanes in both directions and parking on one side of the street. The bike lanes become sharrows between Weber and Milford allowing parking on both sides of the street in the Studio 35 commercial district. Painted crosswalks will be added in key locations. More here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tHLYRd8Q6GdjTUgnB2QiN_UjguQDL6Yo/view Indianola Realignment to Include Bike Lanes, but Advocates Pushing for Better Ones Brent Warren - Columbus Underground - Oct. 4, 2021 "The City of Columbus has picked its favorite option for the realignment, and has presented the design to the neighborhood. The project picks up where a previous effort left off – a “road diet” that added bike lanes to Indianola from Morse Road to just north of North Broadway – and would also connect up to the city’s only protected bike lane, the two-way Summit Street cycletrack that extends from Hudson to 11th Avenue. ... A group called Indianola for Everyone is advocating for Alternative 3, and local transit advocates, including Transit Columbus, have echoed that message on social media. ... Goodwin said there are several reasons why protected lanes weren’t chosen as the preferred alternative for Indianola, including concerns from some neighbors about losing parking spaces. Asked why protective bollards couldn’t simply be added to the Alternative 4 scenario (on the side of the street without a parking lane), he said that there isn’t space even for the narrow bollards the city used on Summit."
October 4, 20213 yr 16 minutes ago, NorthShore647 said: Indianola Realignment to Include Bike Lanes, but Advocates Pushing for Better Ones Brent Warren - Columbus Underground - Oct. 4, 2021 "The City of Columbus has picked its favorite option for the realignment, and has presented the design to the neighborhood. The project picks up where a previous effort left off – a “road diet” that added bike lanes to Indianola from Morse Road to just north of North Broadway – and would also connect up to the city’s only protected bike lane, the two-way Summit Street cycletrack that extends from Hudson to 11th Avenue. ... A group called Indianola for Everyone is advocating for Alternative 3, and local transit advocates, including Transit Columbus, have echoed that message on social media. ... Goodwin said there are several reasons why protected lanes weren’t chosen as the preferred alternative for Indianola, including concerns from some neighbors about losing parking spaces. Asked why protective bollards couldn’t simply be added to the Alternative 4 scenario (on the side of the street without a parking lane), he said that there isn’t space even for the narrow bollards the city used on Summit." Alternative 2 seems like the best idea to me. Completely removing parking from indianlola seems like it would cause problems. The bike lanes with no buffer is incredibly dumb and this city is trash when it comes to bike lanes.
October 5, 20213 yr Has the City has only released layouts for Alternative 4? I've been looking but can't find anything for Alt 2 or 3. It makes it feel like the solution was pre-baked into the process.
October 7, 20213 yr The Dispatch has an article about the Indianola bike lane planning: Columbus prefers bike lanes with parking on parts of Indianola, others want bike lanes only: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/10/07/city-prefers-bike-lanes-and-parking-along-indianola-do-merchants/5993758001/
December 30, 20213 yr The city has made changes to their recommended alternative for the bike lanes on Indianola Avenue... In short, all parking on the east side of the street will be removed to allow continuous bike lanes throughout the corridor, including in the commercial section north of Weber Rd. This also means the landscaped median (pictured in the post above) will be removed. The city made these changes based on feedback that the bike lanes need to be continuous & after doing another study of current usage of the on-street parking. Full conceptual drawings are on the city's website here. There's also more information about the changes on the project page.
January 22, 20223 yr Updated Plan for Bike Lanes Spurs Response From Business Owners The city of Columbus is moving forward with a revised plan to reconfigure a stretch of Indianola Avenue in Clintonville. The new alignment adds bike lanes to both sides of the street, from North Broadway to Arcadia Avenue, something that many residents and cycling advocates asked for after the city presented its initial plan for the corridor to neighborhood groups last fall. The previous plan called for bike lanes along most of the corridor, but there was one significant exception. From Midgard Road to Weber Road – home to Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse and about 17 other locally-owned shops and businesses – cyclists would be forced to merge out of the bike lanes and into a single traffic lane that they would share with cars. Under that plan, parking spaces on both sides of the street would have been preserved, as would an existing landscaped median in the middle of the street. More below: https://www.columbusunderground.com/updated-plan-for-bike-lanes-spurs-response-from-business-owners-bw1/ "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 28, 20223 yr Clintonville business owners raise concerns about bike lane plan The city's plan for new bike lanes along Indianola Avenue is facing pushback from some business owners, who worry an associated loss of parking spaces could have a negative impact on their business. Studio 35 owner Eric Brembeck said he worries having less parking near the movie theater could keep customers away. "(Studio 35) has been a part of this community since 1938 and we've been trying to get to the other end of this (Covid) tunnel and then bam, no parking," Brembeck said. "I don't know how this is a good thing." More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/01/27/bike-lane-controversy.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 25, 20223 yr ^ This argument comes up virtually every time an urban bikeway is proposed. It's tiresome. That said, promoters of these projects need to be proactive in addressing this and similar arguments before the complaining begins rather than after. Edited February 25, 20223 yr by gildone
March 10, 20223 yr Is there a resource where we can find out how much bike infrastructure Columbus builds year over year? I'm a bit biased being in Old North and not seeing some parts of the city very often. Certainly this area has been getting and will soon be getting more dedicated (though not protected) lanes. I'm curious to see how much Columbus has really added since 2015 when Summit and 4th were redone city wide.
May 26, 20223 yr A 1.3 mile section of the Ohio to Erie trail has been paved by Licking Parks District, ironically, in Knox County at the Newell Recreation Preserve. Last summer Sunbury paved a 1 mile section connecting to 4.1 miles Delaware County Preservation Parks paved a year earlier. It's now possible to ride, on trail, from Sunbury to Danville; 37 miles! It's less than a mile through Danville and you pick up the Mohican Valley and Holmes County trails for an additional 12 miles into Glenmont. If only Sunbury and Galena would get their act together. Many disjointed and missing parts of trails in those two towns. Edited May 26, 20223 yr by aderwent I guess this should be moved to the Ohio to Erie Trail thread.
June 3, 20223 yr 42 minutes ago, NorthShore647 said: This is a damn joke, Indianola is the perfect road to have a protected bike lane and they give a half assed buffered lane and whatever the hell is in front of studio 35
June 7, 20223 yr Glad that Studio 35 got their 5 parking spaces back. I loved Studio 35 and had been going there off and on for the better part of 13 years but seeing the owner take this stance against a bike lane and now seeing that the ideal is a bike lane directly in the door zone has really soured me on them. It's frustrating to see so many businesses in this city remain so dedicated to providing car access directly in front of their place of business, even to the detriment of their local community. Like, they have two cinema's in pretty dense (at least by suburban Ohio standards) locations and the city mere suggestion of losing a little bit of parking led them on this giant public campaign is just so short sighted and telling about their priorities. It's basically, "I'm a fan of bikes, but if they could do it away from my business, that'd be great".
September 15, 20222 yr City Looking at Upgrading Existing Bike Lanes, Updating Bike Plan Justin Goodwin, the city’s Transportation Planning Manager, said that the audit is focused on assessing all of the existing one-way, painted bike lanes throughout the city. The goal is “to determine where we may have available space and minimal conflicts to provide physical separation,” he said. “The Department of Public Service is also exploring options to pilot different materials and methods for physical separation, and to develop maintenance approaches for snow and debris removal in narrower physically protected spaces.” That’s an evolution in thinking for the city, which has resisted calls from advocates to build more protected lanes – something that many studies over the years have shown to have a huge impact, both in terms of safety and encouraging more people to ride – citing the difficulty of plowing and sweeping one-way protected lanes. “Right now we are targeting spring of 2023 for initial installation, with the number of locations to be determined,” said Goodwin, adding that “it will likely take us the next couple of months to work through the list, assess conditions, prioritize locations and determine what method of physical separation is most feasible for a near-term pilot.” City officials also confirmed that several transportation-related planning efforts are moving forward: A Request for Proposals (RFP) will be released later this year for a consultant to produce a new city-wide Bikeways Plan, which would serve as a replacement for the 2008 Bicentennial Bikeways Plan. The plan will identifying a priority bicycle network and be focused primarily on implementation, according to the city. Also planned for release in the next few months is an RFP for a Downtown Multimodal Transportation Study, which will examine the feasibility of potential bike, transit and pedestrian upgrades. Proposals from the new Downtown Strategic Plan will be included in the scope of the work, including dedicated transit lanes on Third Street and two-way protected bike lanes on both Broad Street and Fourth Street. The plan will also look at the potential for pilot programs – also known as tactical urbanism projects – in which new lane configurations are tested out using temporary barriers before being installed permanently. The city’s Vision Zero safety initiative is reaching the end of the two-year timeline laid out in the initial planning document released in March of 2021 (called Vision Zero Columbus Action Plan 1.0). A new document will be produced with goals for the next several years, and the city is looking for residents interested in helping to shape it – email [email protected] to get involved. One of the big recommendations of the first Vision Zero document was to lower the speed limit downtown to 25 miles per hour. A study of traffic signal timing is currently underway, and the city is on track to establish the new, lower limits on all downtown streets by March, according to Vision Zero officials.
October 19, 20222 yr This is good news: City to Build Protected Bike Lane on Mt. Vernon Avenue “The city of Columbus is finalizing plans for a bike lane on Mt. Vernon Avenue that would be physically protected from car traffic. The two-way path would run along one side of the road for about a mile, from Hamilton Avenue to Phillips Street. The lane is the end result of an initiative called the Bronzeville/Mt. Vernon Avenue Mobility and Safety Action Plan, which kicked off in 2020 and has involved a public survey and meetings, data collection, and a tactical urbanism installation in which temporary plastic bollards were placed at key intersections to slow down cars and make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street. Debbie Briner, spokesperson for the Department of Public Service, said that the city is interested in eventually connecting up the new protected lane on Mt. Vernon with the bike lanes on Greenway, but that those improvements will have to be undertaken as a separate project. The city hopes to hire a consultant to design the Mt. Vernon lane before the end of the year and for design work to start early next year, she said, although construction – which would coincide with resurfacing the street – would likely not start until 2024.” https://columbusunderground.com/city-to-build-protected-bike-lane-on-mt-vernon-avenue-bw1/
October 19, 20222 yr That's awesome news! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 2, 20222 yr Columbus planning for improved bikeways, infrastructure to accommodate various mobility devices Columbus is creating a new bikeways plan to improve biking infrastructure across the city. The plan will build on the community conversation about the need for more, safer bike lanes, said Justin Goodwin, transportation planning manager for Columbus. The plan also will address what Goodwin called, "micromobility" – increasing number of ways people now get around town via e-scooters, e-bikes, hover boards, etc. – and the increased demand for all kinds of mobility devices. "Our bike infrastructure was originally for bikes only, now there are all kinds of mobility devices," Goodwin said. "We're going to start the planning process and expand the infrastructure for that growing group of people." More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/11/02/micromobility-plan.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 2, 20222 yr City Announces New Bike Plan at Studio 35 The Columbus Bikeways and Micromobility Plan, which will get underway next year and was officially announced last night at an event at Studio 35 in Clintonville, is off to a contentious start. Mayor Andrew Ginther spoke at the event, saying that a request for proposals will be issued this month for a consultant to lead the year-long planning process. The new plan will serve as a replacement for the 2008 Bicentennial Bikeways Plan and will identify priorities for infrastructure improvements all over the city. Ginther and several other speakers talked about the importance of the plan, but also chose to highlight one recent city-led initiative in particular – the upcoming reconfiguration of a stretch of Indianola Avenue in Clintonville, which was finalized last summer after about 18 months of public meetings and lots of back-and-forth between those pushing for higher-quality bike lanes and others hoping to preserve more parking along the corridor. More below: https://columbusunderground.com/city-announces-new-bike-plan-at-studio-35-bw1/ "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 13, 20222 yr I wonder if Studio 35 put it up as part of a PR campaign to try to win back folks they lost through the whole process of fighting the city. Very much looking forward to another grand plan that won't be realized or will be continuously held up anytime a business objects. There's absolutely NO excuse for the complete lack of further protected bike lane development in what will be a decade from the completion of Summit and 4th. Just slow rolling ourselves further behind peer cities.
December 13, 20222 yr 4 hours ago, DTCL11 said: There's absolutely NO excuse for the complete lack of further protected bike lane development in what will be a decade from the completion of Summit and 4th. At this juncture I'll take any infrastructure improvements that isn't just spray painting a bike on the street.
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