Core Value #4: The University District shall be a neighborhood of choice.

This is one of five chapters that address safety and law enforcement, community schools, circulation, transit, and parking of the Neighborhoods. Being a neighborhood of choice requires that streets and parking areas are safe and access is adequate to public transit and other key services such as quality community schools.

While resolving District-wide vehicular circulation problems will relieve many of the problems, the Neighborhoods need additional access to public transit and designation of streets and paths for safe pedestrian and bicycle routes. In particular, the East, North and South Campus Neighborhoods with the high concentration of students require safe and reliable streets and transportation alternatives to and from the university. Chapter 13.0 provides transportation alternatives recommendations.

Alternatives to automobile circulation with the Neighborhoods are largely relegated to infrequent bus service, limited Ohio State University shuttle services, and informal use of bicycles on streets without designated bike lanes. To reduce automobile dependence and demand for parking spaces in the Neighborhoods, the Revitalization Plan has identified policies and recommendations for improving alternative transportation methods.

The following objectives define the transportation issues and frame the discussion which follows:

Recommendation 13.1.1: Enhance High Street as a major transit corridor to and through the area by improving bus stops and patron facilities.

Recommendation 13.1.2: Develop Lane Avenue as a major east-west transit corridor from the west to High Street once Lane is widened and improved.

Recommendation 13.1.3: Encourage and support COTA in endeavors to establish Ohio State as one of the major transit centers in the metropolitan area.

Recommendation 13.2.1: Expand Ohio State’s shuttle bus system along High Street and into the Neighborhoods at minimal cost to users, and encourage usage by students, staff, faculty, and residents circulating within the Neighborhoods.

Recommendation 13.2.2: Expansion of the Ohio State shuttle service should reinforce land use objectives by focusing service on Mixed Use Areas (see Chapter 5).

Recommendation 13.2.3: Maintain high levels of Ohio State shuttle services to and from the parking lots in the West Campus areas for commuters and off-campus resident students needing storage parking.

Recommendation 13.2.4: Coordinate COTA's bus service on High Street, Lane Avenue, West 10th/East 11th Avenues with the Ohio State transit/shuttle services.

Recommendation 13.3.1: Establish pedestrian crossing points of High Street at signalized intersections (Woodruff Avenue, West 18th Avenue, West 17th Avenue, 15th Avenue, 14th Avenue, 13th Avenue, 12th Avenue, and West 11th Avenue) which relate to the major pedestrian corridors of the Ohio State campus.

Recommendation 13.3.2: Remove other existing mid-block crosswalks and add one at Frambes Avenue to address possible safety concerns.

Recommendation 13.4.1: Engage the City's bicycle coordinator to address and develop the bike plan for the area in concert with appropriate representatives of Ohio State.

Recommendation 13.4.2: Additional bicycle parking should be provided both on and off campus. Consider bicycle lockers for long-term and commuter parking.

Recommendation 13.4.3: Enhance pedestrian and bicycle safety via a bicyclist education and enforcement program.

Two forms of public transportation (transit) exists in the study area: bus service provided by the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) and shuttles operated by Ohio State. The principal COTA service is provided along High Street and along the Summit Street/Fourth Street corridor. Other routes cross or circulate in the area via the Dodridge/Hudson Street corridor; West Woodruff Avenue/Woody Hayes Drive; Chittenden Avenue and East 11th Avenue; King Avenue, West 9th Avenue, West 12th Avenue, West 10th Avenue, Neil Avenue, and 5th Avenue. The dominant ridership patterns are along the High Street Corridor (i.e., along the High Street Corridor to and from downtown Columbus). The east-west routes are not used as heavily.

The Ohio State transit system is primarily configured to serve internal travel within the campus. Significant routes are along West Woodruff Avenue/Woody Hayes Drive, 12th Avenue, Neil Avenue, West 9th Avenue (west of Neil Avenue), and Cannon Drive. The Ohio State transit systems serves the West Campus and its parking areas. The bus service operates on headways of less then ten minutes and is reasonably direct; however, the system's potential is only partially utilized. In addition, Ohio State has terminated much of its bus service east of High Street due to a lack of patronage.

The proximity of off-campus student residential areas to the campus produces significant pedestrian and bicycle activity in the High Street Corridor. A number of marked crosswalks are provided to cross High Street. Eight of these are located at signalized intersections from Lane Avenue to Chittenden Avenue. However, there are three other crosswalks at intersections or at mid-block locations that function without the aid of a signal. High Street has two lanes in each direction plus a center lane used intermittently for left turns. This center lane also functions as a refuge area for pedestrians crossing the street. The situation has the potential to be unsafe; however, recent accident experience does not indicate that a significant problem exists.

Bikeways exist within the Ohio State campus and there is a narrow marked bikeway on the east side (northbound) of High Street in the campus area. Bikeways do not exist elsewhere in the study area; however, the city of Columbus is in the process of defining bicycle routes to and through the study area. To delineate exclusive bikeways raises a pavement-use trade-off; that is, because of narrow pavement widths, a parking lane or traffic lane would need to be eliminated if on-street bike lanes are established. However, the use of bicycles in a student residential environment would be a positive situation.

Figure 3: Transit Routes illustrates a possible route structure for the COTA and Ohio State University bus services. The goal is to significantly improve the quality, distribution, and frequency of transit service for students, staff, and faculty of Ohio State as well as for residents of the Neighborhoods. In addition, improvements should entail high quality stops (shelters) with user amenities--coordinated with pedestrianways and land uses.

Figure 4: Bikeway Routes, illustrates the planning team’s recommendations for an integrated bikeway system throughout the neighborhoods. The bicycle coordinator for the city of Columbus is currently developing a comprehensive bike route plan. Alternatives being considered include designated north-south bike routes along the Summit/Fourth Street corridor and along the Neil Avenue/17th Avenue/Tuttle Park Place corridor. Possible east-west corridors include Patterson Avenue and Arcadia Avenue (linked with Calumet Street and Pacemont Road).

The Ohio State Campus Master Plan also designates a bicycle circulation system with the following primary points of access from the adjacent neighborhoods: Neil Avenue from the north and south, East Woodruff Avenue at High Street, old West 17th Avenue at High Street, and West 12th Avenue at High Street. The Master Plan states that a bicycling network should be designated to connect key destinations on the campus and to link to destinations off campus, including regional bicycle paths along the river.

Given the bicycle circulation system presented in the Ohio State Master Plan, it is recommended that the neighborhoods’ primary bicycle route be designated along East Woodruff Avenue and East 12th Avenue--connected via a link along Indianola Avenue. To link this system with the City-wide system, it is recommended that the overall plan be developed by the City's bicycle coordinator. This person could also address other issues related to the use of bicycles including parking, safety, and enforcement programs.