Last month, the Ohio Department of Transportation solicited public feedback on their designs for future phases of the Interstate 70/71 “Split Fix” project in Downtown Columbus. We shared the latest renderings, made comparisons to previous renderings and asked Columbus Underground readers for their impressions of the designs. Largely, the responses where those of disappointment, citing a lack of green aesthetics to balance the cement hardscape and a lack of neighborhood connectivity on secondary streets.
As a follow up, we reached out to public officials with The City of Columbus to see how they felt about the designs, and to see if they shared any of the same sentiment as the general public.
“It is disappointing that some of the good ideas shared during the public process were unable to be funded,” said Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “However, the City of Columbus did lead the way in ensuring that this project would have complete streets, cap capable bridges and other amenities to improve the surrounding neighborhoods and our Downtown, such as the enhancement of Oak Street, vehicle crossings at Main and Broad Streets, a bike lane, curbs and sidewalks on Broad and enhanced bridge crossings.”
The unfunded good ideas that Coleman mentions were presented to the public over the course of several years via meetings, town halls and other input events. While this could have led some attendees to believe that some of the concepts were feasible for the final product, Director of the Columbus Department of Public Service Mark Kelsey said that should never have been the case.
“There’s a disconnect,” he explains. “You may believe there was going to be more green stuff out there than what’s currently called for based upon some pretty pictures that were floated out there a long time ago. Medians for instance; there were not going to be green medians.”
In July 2010, ODOT provided a presentation to Columbus City Council on the 70/71 project. Council approved preliminary legislation that would move the project forward and would grant ODOT permission from the Federal Highway Administration to procure the design build contract for Phase 1 of the project. Some public confusion could have come from this event on the project’s timeline as the design for Phases 2 and 3 were not yet set in stone.
“Original renderings presented for discussion in 2010 were reflective of the community feedback with little regard to cost or maintenance concerns,” said Columbus City Councilmember Zach Klein. “They were meant to facilitate conversation and were not presented as a final draft.”
“It’s very important to keep the chronology in line,” added Kelsey. “I think ODOT should take the renderings off their website that are old and not approved by the finance committee. The renderings that we approved and the betterments that we said we’d pay for are included in the most recent renderings, and those are the ones we’re going to move through the design process with and continue to get feedback on from various groups.”
With ODOT’s deadline for feedback having passed on February 6th, does the approved design for the highway project still have any wiggle room when it comes to making additional modifications?
“Not a whole lot,” said Director Kelsey. “We elected to put our dollars in areas where there’s greater traffic from pedestrians and vehicles, that being the Town/Bryden, Main and Broad Street Crossings. Parsons, not so much. We have a finite amount of money we’re working with.”
A limited project budget is what removed proposed highway caps that were on “the wish list” of City officials in 2007. All bridges being replaced in the 70/71 project are being upgraded to be “cap capable” for future development, which means that if a private developer wants to invest in adding a street-level cap similar to the I-670 cap on High Street, then the retaining walls and bridge piers could support it.
In 2004, the innovative I-670 cap (which is being studied for replication by transit officials in Chicago) was completed through a community-led effort that included leadership from The Short North Business Association, the Columbus Neighborhood Design Assistance Center, the Columbus Downtown Development Office, the Columbus Economic Development Department, private developer Jack Lucks, and others. Whether or not a completely private development driven effort will lead to future cap development is left to the uncertain.
“Although there has not been any new development identified as of yet for the cap-capable bridges, at any time the caps are ready to be developed, they can be with minimally invasive construction,” said Columbus City Councilmember Eileen Paley. “On follow up, “minimally invasive” was explained that there would always be lanes open for traffic.”
While the new highway bridge crossings may not have all of the aesthetic and pedestrian enhancements requested by readers of Columbus Underground, they do look much better than the bridges that exist today. Several have crumbling sidewalks and outdated chain-link fencing, which means that any type of modernization will be an upgrade.
“The base model today is so far enhanced compared to what it was when the highway was first built,” said Kelsey. “They’re all going to look much better after construction, whenever that is, than they do now. On January 19th we showed pictures of the enhanced model that we’re going to use on Oak Street to folks, and they thought that was great. That wowed several people.”
If one common theme resounds from both city officials and concerned citizens it’s that the final project should be the best that it can be while remaining fiscally responsible. And while endless discussion can be had about design, aesthetics and amenities, the timeclock is no longer winding down toward construction, as ODOT announced in January that due to funding shortfalls, these phases of the 70/71 project would be pushed back to 2025 or later.
“It is our hope that ODOT will find way to begin the next phases of this project prior to 2014,” said Mayor Coleman. “If state, federal or other funding does become available, the project needs to be ready to proceed.”
Director Kelsey agrees, noting that a federal gasoline tax increase or the leasing of the Ohio Turnpike could potentially provide new sources of funding back into ODOT’s budget, moving the construction timeframe back toward being on track.
Until then, let the conversation continue.