Columbus seeks to slow traffic, cut crashes on Livingston Avenue
Columbus City Council has approved $150,000 for a traffic study along East Livingston Avenue between South 18th Street and Nelson Road to develop a plan to slow down traffic and reduce crashes there.
Two companies submitted proposals to the city to perform the study, with CHA Consulting, of Columbus, getting the contract.
Collecting updated traffic volume and crash data is one of the first tasks of the study, according to Deb Briner, a city Department of Public Service spokeswoman. That 1.6-miles stretch of East Livingston passes through the Driving Park and Old Oaks neighborhoods.
Briner said traffic data collected and community input will help drive the plan, and lane reconfiguration could be part of that.
East Livingston Avenue: Crashes a significant problem in Driving Park
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther mentioned work coming on East Livingston Avenue during his annual State of the City speech on March 1, saying during the pre-recorded, online speech that the city would install “improved, resilient infrastructure” along the street that would include sidewalks, lighting and turn lanes, similar to the work along East Livingston to the west near Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
In December, The Dispatch reported that the city was planning a traffic study after reports showed a troubling number of crashes along the busy corridor, and community leaders and residents complaining about speeders and wanting more of a police presence.
According to city police records, there were 65 crashes in 2021 through Dec. 13 at just five intersections along East Livingston Avenue: South Ohio Avenue, South Champion Avenue, Miller Avenue, Kelton Avenue and Fairwood Avenue.
Stacee Green, vice president of the Driving Park Civic Association, said the city needs to take steps to make the intersection of Kelton and East Livingston safer. The Driving Park branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library sits on the northwest corner, and a charter school, Capital Collegiate Preparatory Academy, is just north of the intersection.
In May 2021, there was a traffic incident at Kelton and East Livingston involving a school bus and two cars. The driver of one car swerved to avoid being hit and struck the side of the library branch. There was minimal damage to the building and no one was hurt inside, Dorcas Taylor Jones, a library spokeswoman, said in an email.
“I’m very concerned about Kelton and Livingston specifically,” Green said.
Residents suggest planting trees, reducing traffic lanes, adding bike lanes along Livingston Avenue
Green also would like to see the city beautify the stretch so it resembles what East Livingston looks like along the northern border of German Village and near Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“It would be nice to have uniformity and cohesiveness,” Green said.
Danielle Dillard, president of the Livingston Avenue Area Commission, also would like to see the city beautify Livingston to help the neighborhood attract business. She said there’s no reason why that stretch of East Livingston couldn’t look like East Main Street in Bexley someday.
But Dillard said the main priority is safety.
In December, Reynaldo Stargell, administrator of the city’s traffic management division, told The Dispatch that reducing the number of lanes can reduce speeds.
The city did that on Parsons Avenue on the South Side, with traffic now traveling on one lane northbound and one southbound with a middle turn lane. East Livingston Avenue now is two lanes eastbound and westbound, with some left-turn lanes.
Andrew Bragg would like to see the Parsons Avenue idea duplicated on East Livingston. He is a co-owner of a two-story building he is rehabbing at Miller and East Livingston avenues, and a car ran into it this past summer.
“People just drive too fast on Livingston. Everyone’s guilty of it, including myself,” Bragg said. “The easiest solution is just using what they did to narrow down Parsons.”
Michael Aaron, who leads the Rickenbacker Woods Foundation, which takes care of World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker’s home on East Livingston Avenue, said he would like to see the city install bike lanes along Livingston connecting it with bike lanes to the west and with the Alum Creek Trail to the east.
In the meantime, the city is installing state-funded crosswalks with signs and flashing beacons at East Livingston and the following intersections: South 22nd Street, Wilson Avenue and Lilley Avenue.
This story is part of the Dispatch’s Mobile Newsroom initiative, which has focused on Northland, Driving Park, the Hilltop and now Whitehall. Read our reporters’ work at dispatch.com/mobilenewsroom, where you also can sign up for The Mobile Newsroom newsletter.
@MarkFerenchik
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