Columbus finished installing what is now the city's longest protected bike lane on North 4th Street from Italian Village through Hudson Street in the University District.
Thick, reflective plastic white posts now run nearly the entire two and a half mile length of North 4th Street. Previously, the one-way street had no barriers between a bike lane and two lanes of traffic.
Bikers and transit activists, like north Columbus resident Shawn Price, say more bike lanes should be protected from drivers.
Price only bikes and doesn't drive, despite only having one lung after surviving a battle with cancer. He hadn't ridden this stretch of road for three years until last Thursday.
Price said he's glad the city added the barriers, but wants more protected bike lanes around the city to deter bad drivers, especially at night.
"Maybe it wakes people up, you know, because it is bright. Bright lights hit it and you definitely can see them. It's like me wearing a reflector jacket," Price said.
Price said drivers speed up that stretch of road, and there are problems with drunk motorists driving erratically to and from the bars in the area.
Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission traffic counts show more than 10,000 vehicles travel much of North 4th Street daily.
The city also repaved the path and added more bump-out curves, which Price said he appreciated.
Columbus Department of Public Service spokesperson Deb Briner said the project, which included safety improvements to 5th Avenue, cost $2.1 million. It was funded almost entirely by an Ohio Department of Transportation safety grant.
The city covered approximately $365,000 of the project, Briner said.
Briner didn't say if the city is planning a similar project on Summit Street, where the bike lane is partially protected by parked cars for some of its length. It becomes an unprotected bike lane starting at 11th Avenue heading south.
Transit Columbus Chair Stevie Pasamonte told WOSU new protected bike lanes are a welcome addition to the city's transit infrastructure. She said projects like this will also benefit drivers in the long run as the city adds more residents, who can crowd up already busy rush hour traffic.
"If you are a driver, even, and you don't like traffic, you're benefiting from these bike lanes because it means that other people are choosing a different mode of transportation that's not gonna keep you stuck when you're trying to get home," Pasamonte said.
She said the city has expressed interest in adding more of these kinds of bike lanes.
