Morse Road is about to get its second phase of infrastructure improvements. Hopefully they can address some of the problems that are causing the high crash rates at Karl Road and Cleveland Avenue.
Funds in place for second round of Morse Road upgrades
* The thoroughfare’s stretch from Karl Road to Cleveland Avenue should have trees, bike paths and sidewalks by 2010.
By RACHEL BUCCICONE
Published: Sunday, June 7, 2009 10:05 AM EDTThe second half of planned work to make Morse Road friendlier to cyclists and pedestrians now has the funding to move forward.
Columbus City Council, at its June 1 meeting, approved the spending of $652,000 to acquire parcels necessary to complete the second phase of the Morse Road improvement Project.
That money comes from the Fed-State Highway Engineering Fund and will pay for improvements to modernize Morse Road, between Karl Road and Cleveland Avenue, Councilman Hearcel Craig said.
The 1.4-mile first phase consisted of new sidewalks and wheelchair ramps; upgraded storm sewers, streetlights and traffic signals; repaving; and the installation of marked bike lanes, 262 street trees and landscaped mediums [sic] between Indianola Avenue and Karl Road, said Rick Tilton, assistant director for the department of public service.
Public Service Director Mark Kelsey said the city has received kudos on the first round of improvements, with bicyclists and pedestrians enjoying access they didn’t have before. That portion of the project began April 2005 and was completed May 2008.
The second phase got under way in August 2008 and is projected to be complete by July 2010, Tilton said.
The upgrades to the 1.5 miles of Morse Road’s commercial area in the second phase include the same upgrades as the first, Craig said.
I’m personally really looking forward to the “landscaped mediums.”
I’d still be very wary of riding a bike on Morse Rd unless they were to separate the bike lane from the flow of traffic, or drop the speed limit.
And how is this paying for itself? What investments has the completed phase 1 stretch seen? It’s certainly not any safer with the same traffic speed as before.