Officials choose route for Olentangy Trail connector near Clintonville

On Apr 30, 2021

A runner on Milton Avenue crosses W. North Broadway Monday night. Columbus parks officials have selected a route to connect the Olentangy Trail through Clintonville.

Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks has chosen a route for an Olentangy Trail connector that includes a crossing on busy West North Broadway near the OhioHealth’s David P. Blom Administrative Campus.

Some who live in that area or use the trail still think that’s dangerous, and would prefer a bridge or underground passage instead of a crosswalk near a busy interchange.

“You’re swapping one dangerous connection for another,” said Judy Minister, a former Clintonville area commissioner.

Officials wanted to make the trail safer. The existing trail connection between Clinton-Como and Northmoor parks crosses West North Broadway at Milton Avenue, and takes bicyclists, runners and walkers down five streets in Clintonville: Riverside Drive, Delhi Avenue, Milton Avenue, West Kenworth Road and Olentangy Boulevard, a one-mile stretch.

Bikers, walkers and joggers mingle on the busy Olentangy Trail in Northmoor Park just before the point it turns from a paved trail to city streets. Columbus parks officials have selected a route to connect the Olentangy Trail through Clintonville.

The new connector would take those using the trail south from Northmoor Park, then west on a new bridge over the Olentangy River to West North Broadway at Ohio Health Boulevard.

The trail will cross West North Broadway and then head south, going over another bridge over Slyh Run and the Olentangy River and then to Clinton-Como Park.

The route is one of five the city considered. Information on the route can be found at https://www.columbus.gov/recreationandparks/trails/Olentangy-Trail/.

Some say the new route and the crossing near the OhioHealth campus is too close to the busy Route-315/West North Broadway interchange.

Will Easton, a Clintonville resident and runner and bicyclist who uses the trail often, said putting a pedestrian and bicycle crossing there is inherently unsafe and poorly designed.

“A bridge or tunnel would certainly be the safest way to do things,” Easton said. “It’s a huge mistake to lock in bad design for generations to come.”

City officials had studied whether to build a tunnel or bridge over West North Broadway near OhioHealth.

But Brad Westall, program manager for the Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks, said a tunnel could not be built because of a 72-inch sewer line under the roadway.

A bridge across the road would have to be at least 1,000 feet long so it could reach the proper height over West North Broadway, and that would have cost $6 million, Westall said. Such a long bridge also would affect the west bank of the Olentangy River.

The entire project had been expected to cost $5 million, with $3.75 million in federal money coming through the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and the remaining $1.25 million from the city.

But Westall said it may end up costing more by the time the project is finished. Construction is not expected to begin until 2024, he said.

“This is a technically difficult project, with two bridges and crosswalk enhancements that need to be reviewed by the city and (the Ohio Department of Transportation),” he said.

The city also needs easements from OhioHealth and property owner Crawford Hoying.

According to the latest available Mid-Ohio Regional Traffic Commission traffic counts, 22,502 vehicles traveled daily on West North Broadway near the OhioHealth campus in 2016.

By comparison, 24,765 vehicles traveled on West North Broadway west of the Milton Avenue intersection each day, and 21,778 vehicles traveled east of the intersection each day. Milton’s daily traffic in 2016 was 2,659 vehicles north of the intersection and 1,674 south of the intersection.

Westall said the trail connector could not be built along the river underneath the West North Broadway bridge because the clearance isn’t high enough.

The 14-mile Olentangy Trail between Worthington and downtown Columbus is the city’s most-popular, with more than 1,000 bicycle and pedestrian trips a day on several sections.

Erin Synk, an avid cyclist and the vice chair of the board of the nonprofit Yay Bikes!, said she knows some people aren’t happy with the planned West North Broadway crossing near OhioHealth. She said she hopes that lights can be timed so those using the trail have enough time to cross.