City officials leaning toward roundabout plan for Richland
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor
May 8, 2008
Athens does not yet have an official “preferred alternative” for the proposed Richland Avenue/Ohio Rt. 682 improvement project, but city officials are leaning toward turning the intersection into a roundabout.
City officials are working with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) to improve the intersection, as well as the Richland Avenue bridge over the Hocking River and Richland Avenue as it travels to President Street.
On Monday, city officials met with the FHA and ODOT officials to discuss the project, and Street Director Andy Stone stated at the meeting that he prefers the roundabout proposal.
Likewise, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said Monday after the meeting that he, too, prefers the roundabout option.
The FHA and ODOT officials want more environmental review information before an official preferred alternative is chosen and they also want the city to put all of the information together for them to review, Stone said.
For now, though, it looks like the intersection is on its way to becoming a roundabout.
“As the estimates stand now, we would not be able to afford alternative A,” Stone said Wednesday. That alternative is a traditional intersection that would require increasing the width of the bridge to accommodate six lanes of traffic. This alternative also includes either building a separate pedestrian bridge or widening the current bridge by 30 feet to make room for new bike lanes and sidewalks, along with the additional lanes of traffic.
The proposal for the traditional intersection with the pedestrian bridge would cost $5.75 million, while the traditional intersection with the option to widen the bridge by 30 feet would cost $7.1 million.
The roundabout proposal would cost $4.5 million.
And while the cost is best for the roundabout proposal, evaluation criteria from the public meetings and local officials also favor the roundabout proposal, Stone said.
If the city was just concerned about moving cars through the intersection, it could afford a less costly proposal to build a traditional intersection, Stone said. Because of the need for pedestrian and bicycle safety on the bridge, however, the price of this alternative grew significantly, Stone said.
“Alternative A pretty much grew beyond our budget,” he acknowledged.
The roundabout proposal has its critics in the community who argue that it may be difficult to navigate and will be tough for pedestrians to cross.
Stone has argued, though, that it could be safer than a traditional intersection for both vehicles and pedestrians. The roundabout proposal has both a pedestrian crossing over the roadway, and a tunnel crossing under Ohio Rt. 682 near the intersection, Stone said.
This proposal also has a 12-foot-wide “shared use path” on the bridge for pedestrians and people on bicycles, he added.
Nancy Bain, who represents the Third Ward on Athens City Council, has criticized the planning process for the intersection improvements and raised her concerns again on Monday.
She would prefer to see sidewalks on both sides of the bridge and is disappointed that none of options shows this. Other members of council and Wiehl have also said they would prefer to have sidewalks on both sides.
Bain is worried about pedestrians crossing Richland Avenue to get to the side with the sidewalk, and is also concerned about the overall cost of the project and how it will impact funding for other needed street-repair projects in the city.
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