Bids go out this week on downtown street redesign work

Antioch College's free tuition offer attracts 2,500
2/12/12
Tea Party’s impact may be strongest for general election
2/12/12
Bellbrook High threat prompts police to increase security
2/12/12
'Powerball' numbers from $325M jackpot
2/12/12
Education strong determinant with work success
2/12/12
> More headlines

By Ken McCall, Staff Writer 7:48 PM Saturday, May 9, 2009

More than three years in the making, the downtown Dayton street redesign will finally be installed this summer.

The greatly scaled back project, which goes out to bid this week, will convert 18 blocks from one-way to two-way streets and add bike lanes on four streets. Those will be the first bike lanes in the city.

Some preliminary work may begin in June, said Steve Fink, assistant director of public works.

The project started in early 2006 as a move to convert many of downtown Dayton’s one-way streets to two-way. City officials pointed out that the street grid was designed for a time when it had to handle tens of thousands more workers than it does now, and that the layout could be simplified by eliminating some one-way streets.

Concerns about parking by downtown business owners, however, put the brakes on conversion of many streets. Owners objected to losing any parking spots, which would have been necessary for a full conversion.

The new plan will cost no parking spots overall, said John Zelinski, a traffic engineer for Dayton, although some blocks may lose a spot or two.

The conversions to two-way streets will be:

• East Monument Avenue

• North Patterson Boulevard

• First, Second and Fourth streets

Striped bike lanes will be added along the right side of St. Clair and Jefferson streets, which will remain one-way. Those lanes will run from Fifth to Monument.

The city also wanted to add bike lanes running east-west through the city, but had trouble finding space without eliminating parking, Finke said. So the city has decided to install shared lane markings, or “sharrows.”

The sharrows are designated bike routes that are typically marked with large bicycle logos and chevrons pointing in the direction of traffic. They will be installed on Fourth and Fifth streets between St. Clair Street and the Great Miami River.

Bicyclists won’t be limited to those streets, since Ohio law says bicyclists are legal on all streets and roads, Zelinski said. But the markings and signs will alert drivers to watch out for bicyclists.

“It’s not really changing much other than trying to notify more people that bikes are using this lane,” he said. “So hopefully that would make it safer.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article