The first of the many roundabouts planned along the downtown corridor in Columbus will be under construction starting early next week, said City Engineer Kevin Stafford during a Wednesday press conference.
The mini roundabout, planned at the intersection of Second and Main streets near Harvey’s Restaurant, is expected to be finished by November, Stafford said. During the construction, the section between Island Road and Third Street on Main Street will be blocked off, he said, and drivers coming in and out of town should use Second Avenue North as a detour.
For those who wish to access Harvey’s, Stafford said they can still enter the restaurant from its east and south sides.
The roundabout was planned as a traffic calming measure to slow down drivers traveling in and out of town at a high speed, Stafford said. Roughly 60 percent of the accidents along the corridor happen at the intersection, he said.
“Sixty percent of those were actually (drivers) coming into town, people speeding and sliding off the road. … They are still flying around this curve mainly because they can,” he said. “A mini roundabout keeps everybody moving, but it slows everybody down. And by slowing everybody down, you also bring a heightened awareness to the pedestrians in this area.”
Crosswalks will be built in all four directions at the intersection to offer better connectivity for pedestrians, Stafford said. Employees of Harvey’s currently have to run across the Main Street to access their parking lot, he said.
“There’s no safe way for them to cross the street, but it’s where they are set aside to park daily,” Stafford said. “The Riverwalk right now literally throws you out here into the intersection.”
The four-lane roadway on Main Street east of the intersection will turn into three lanes, including two through lanes and a central turn lane for those who wish to access Harvey’s or the gas station across the street from it, Stafford said.
The construction of the mini roundabout, approved by the city council in April, will cost a total of $761,000. Per requirements of the state Department of Transportation, an additional $100,000 has to be paid to Neel-Schaffer Engineering, which is tasked with conducting inspections and testing on the construction site, Stafford previously told The Dispatch.
Costs will be split between MDOT and the city, Stafford said, with the former responsible for 80 percent of the cost, or $688,800. The city will shoulder 20 percent of the cost, or $172,200.
The roundabout is part of a multimillion-dollar transportation improvement project stretching along the corridor that connects downtown Columbus to Highways 82 and 182. The cost of the entire project was originally estimated at $4.5 million, Stafford told The Dispatch, but since it may take years to finish, the total cost as of now stands at $5 million, and may rise due to future inflation.
The master plan includes several similar roundabouts at the Island Road, Third and Fourth Street intersections along the corridor and a signal at the intersection of Fifth and Main streets. The two-lane roadways will mostly be turned into one through lane each way, Stafford said. At Fifth and Main, for example, there could be three lanes traveling westbound, with one left-turn lane, one right-turn lane and one through lane, he said.
The rest of the project will be considered based on when and how much funding is available, he said.
Yue Stella Yu was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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