Despite traffic study, mayor holds ground against road

One of the biggest recent tensions in so-called town-gown relations is the city administration's refusal to open up Bobcat Lane, a road constructed to connect Richland Avenue to Ohio University's new Baker Center.

Discussions on the matter were expected to move forward after the university commissioned a safety study on the effects of opening the road. With that study having been complete for several months now, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl has said his mind has not been changed.

"The study that was presented, I think, did not adequately address the pedestrian impact on Richland Avenue by opening up Bobcat Lane," Wiehl said. "The study probably should have been done before even the first brick had been torn down on Anderson Hall."

Anderson was demolished to make room for the roadway, which remains unfinished due to the city administration's refusal to allow the Richland curb to be cut to create an intersection.

At a luncheon between OU President Roderick McDavis and members of City Council earlier this month, McDavis said that Bobcat Lane is his biggest concern with regard to university/city relations.

McDavis told council members that his latest suggestion is to open the road as a right-turn-in and right-out-out only street for a trial period of six months.

The study, conducted by Sasaki Associates and DLZ of Watertown, Mass., was a combination of site investigation and data collection and analysis.

The study found that connecting Bobcat Lane to Richland Avenue "would improve access" to those major destinations such as Baker Center, as well as "enhance public wayfinding, improve emergency vehicle response and reduce total vehicle-miles traveled."

Wiehl said that he is not sure in what way opening up Bobcat Lane would be a "win-win" for the city. Cutting the curb to open the road would probably create another area on Richland Avenue that pedestrians (mainly OU students) would use as a crosswalk, Wiehl has said. Also, the city created a bike lane on Richland Avenue, and the turn to and from the new road would go right through the bike lane.

Wiehl said that opening up the roadway would increase traffic on city streets and decrease traffic on some university streets, creating an exportation of wear and tear from university to city.

"I read the thing, and it doesn't make the case for me," Wiehl said. "And that's where I've left it."

The study found that accident incidence along Richland is low and that pedestrian accidents "are not a serious issue, despite the incidence of controlled and uncontrolled pedestrian crossings of Richland." The study stated that nonetheless pedestrian-vehicular conflicts should be "mitigated or at least not exacerbated."

Projected peak-hour traffic volumes on Bobcat Lane, should it be opened, are low, according to the study. Fewer than one vehicle per minute in each direction is expected to use the roadway during peak evening hours, and it would be lower during other periods.

A prohibition on left turns, as McDavis has suggested, "would be reasonable and would not seriously detract" from the roadway's utility, the study said. Also, it said, putting a traffic signal at the intersection would not be warranted.

The study said connection of Bobcat Lane to Richland is appropriate and should be done in the context of Richland Avenue's evolving streetscape.

The city of Athens is currently in its last stage of designing engineering plans for its first roundabout traffic circle at the intersection of Ohio Rt. 682 and Richland Avenue. Completion of the roundabout and bridgework associated with it is expected for December 2010, according to city officials. The roundabout itself is expected to be open in September 2010.

The study listed advantages of opening Bobcat Lane. These included easier finding of Baker Center, better access to the Baker garage reducing uptown parking congestion, faster and more direct emergency response, and decreasing overall congestion in the area.

The study also recommends a southbound left-turn lane on Richland, and pavement markings made to encourage low speeds. Also, through streetscape design measure, pedestrian crossings of Richland at the Bobcat Lane intersection should by physically discouraged, the study said.