e
e e
just one okay good
make
welcome testing one two all
right good evening good evening how's it
going good evening everybody there we go
um we do have a couple more seats up
front if you're looking for some spaces
if you really feel like having fun you
can sit up here at the dis but you might
have to answer some question questions
but that should be fine can you guys
hear out in the hallway that okay that
those are on okay sometimes those
speakers are off uh and we are also
streaming this to our YouTube channel on
the worldwide web um welcome I'm mayor
Ben kastler with the city of Bexley uh
this is a fun meeting because we are
bridging two
jurisdictions uh a uh a practice that we
have I think become better at over time
um and I wanted to really quickly talk
about as we talk about Livingston Avenue
where things stand with Livingston
Avenue today and where we're headed in
the future I wanted to really briefly
revisit um the the relationship the
partnership that the city of Bexley has
forged with the city of Columbus in the
planning process for the joint
Livingston Avenue plan um and so in
theory if this worked it would do
something that it's not doing hold on
one
sec call technical support over here
so joint Livingston plan overview so the
cities of beckling Columbus embarked on
a joint Livingston Avenue plan in the
Years
2021 is 2022 does that sound about right
um with the objective to increase uh
safety on the on the corridor and
Elevate the standard of of living in
general for residents on and near the
corridor um the context at the time
it was uh we were having increasingly
incredibly alarming accidents vehicles
and houses um uh really excessive
speeding on Livingston Avenue and some
of you might be here today saying hey we
still have the same thing we'll talk
about that in a second um so we we we
created this uh planning process to
create um long-term objectives and
short-term objectives for encouraging
increasing the safety of Livingston
Avenue the study area uh went from
Nelson to James um and included
obviously this area that was the city of
Bexley which is between Alum Creek and
Chelsea essentially and the areas of
Columbus on the south side of Livingston
and to the east of that um and notably
and the reason um the partnership with
Columbus is very special and really
appreciated is bexley's City Limits
actually don't start until the north
side of the sidewalk in Livingston
Avenue so the city of Columbus entirely
controls the Livingston Avenue Corridor
including the sidewalk
bexley's Municipal boundary happens just
north of those sidewalks and so any sort
of improvement that we as the city of
Bexley want to see happen has to happen
within the context of a robust
partnership with the city of
Columbus um conditions were studied uh
impediments to safety were studied um
there was a traffic study looking at
what traffic was actually doing where
are the uh signalized intersections is
there does it warrant any changes to
what's there and out of this this came
um a variety of recommendations um and
some really what might feel like pie in
the sky
Concepts but guess
what that's how you get from point A to
point B as you figure out where do you
want to go and how do you get there and
so objectives for the commercial
District of Livingston avue were formed
that called for to the extent possible
reducing curb Cuts along Livingston
trying to start circulating traffic
behind those businesses um creating a a
treelon and a wider pedestrian space
mixed use paths in the residential
district uh it called for um eliminating
what was at the time two-way traffic on
both way so two lanes going both ways
four Lan uh Street in the short term
moving to what we see today and Kelly
scacco from Columbus is going to talk a
little bit about that project the
short-term recommendations that took
Livingston to a two-way street or sorry
two-lane street with a center turn line
and eventually making those permanent
where that Center turn lane when it's
not being used to turn onto streets
becomes a medium that creates an actual
division between traffic so that some of
the behavior we're seeing today would be
stopped by that and also calls for
multi-use paths on both sides of the
street multiuse paths are minimum of 10
feet in width they create ability for
cyclists and pedestrians to have a safe
interface with Livingston Avenue and one
thing that I feel is very crucial is a
true treelon on Livingston Avenue so
today when we're walking along
Livingston you're often very very close
to the traffic as you walk this would
create a really meaningful buffer
between The Pedestrian and the street
this is a long-term plan the good news
is that since we work together on this
plan I don't want to spoil the plot
we're going to get to that in a second
we've made really good progress on
funding and starting to move forward
with the vision that you see in front of
us and we're going to get into that but
before we go there that's a illustration
in 3D of what that looks like before we
go there um Kelly sco with the city of
uh thank you so much for joining us
Kelly is going to talk about traffic
statistics short-term improvements and
progress to date hi good evening
everyone as mayor Ben said I am Kelly
skaka I'm the public service director
for the city of Columbus um show of
hands how many people last time I might
have seen you January of 2022 we were
over at The JCC at a public meeting for
this project anybody in there that night
yeah
go okay online all right um and I stood
in front of this a Podium similar to
this and said we are going to get this
project resurface later this year and we
did we went out there and did a
resurfacing project to do what we were
calling our short
short-term um project improvements to
road diet Livingston Avenue I mean we we
were seeing s crashes people it wasn't
safe to not only walk on Livingston
Avenue it wasn't safe to sit in your
kitchen on Livingston Avenue which was
sad um so we went out there and we
resurfaced we rad dieted hopefully you
all have seen that there has been
Improvement maybe not as much
improvement as you would like but I do
have some statistics to share that we've
done we did some before uh studying and
then we did some statistics afterwards
so we measured the speeds on the street
before and after the 2022 implementation
of the lane
reconfiguration we found that average
speeds decrease by as much as 9 miles
per hour in some areas of the corridor
and in one segment the number of people
driving each day in excess of 50 miles
per hour this is a 35 m per hour Zone
people driving excess of 50 miles per
hour which is of course 15 miles per
miles per hour above the speed limit
decreased on an average of one thou
decreased on average from
1,61 people driving above 50 miles per
hour on that quarter down to 98 now 98
driving above 50 miles per hour I think
we would all agree is
98 equ to many but that was a decrease
in 91% from people driving over 50% or
50 miles per hour and
above from a crash standpoint we looked
at the before and after crashes on on
Livingston Avenue from just east of
college to just west of James Road so
not including the college or James inter
sections themselves right in 2019 this
section saw a total crash of a total of
78 crashes 2019 number 78
crashes when this was still a four-lane
section the crashes dropped to 40
crashes in 2023 which represents a 49%
reduction in crashes in this section of
roadway after the road diet again 40
crashes 40 crashes too many but a
reduction of
49% after the road diet are those the
statistic the kind of safety statistics
you were looking
for yeah
so um so that's where we are with the
safety statistics and um I cannot stay
super long tonight but I am happy to
answer any questions um if anybody has
any questions for me right now
okay it was it was tested in various
sections there were different segments
along between college and James Road so
they had it in different
segments I don't have that information
right in front of me but I can get you
that
information yes
I do not I don't know I don't know that
we ever had a fatality out there we've
not yeah yeah okay okay okay okay
okay yeah okay um but I do not have the
statistics that if any of the 40 were
fatalities I don't believe I've seen a
fatality since 20 in
the Department of Public Safety keeps
statistics we
two weeks ago we had
one what what um intersection was it
at
yeah sure
okay
three fatalities oh
okay
yes
sure I've seen several 70 plus range
they do fly down
I haven't seen any going that
fast since the Improvement you
definitely
slow
yeah no unfortunately they do not and
you know this was the short-term fix and
and mayor Ben's going to get into the
long-term fix but this was something
that we could do very quickly to to help
address again the the the notion that
people were going into people's homes a
question for the group has anybody I I
don't know this has anybody had a house
hit since we put the road diet
in okay all right
well fingers crossed you know um that
that is that that that Trend does
continue to to hold
okay I think the police are coming on
later so yep okay
l
okay yeah
yeah
right
okay yep
okay
yeah Eric are you
familiar
yeah and
Francis
okay okay
yeah there's no turn on to
Fran that's so people are trying to make
the left the left on to L Francis is it
prohibited it's just not protected we
could take a look at
that yeah we'll take a look at
that sure sure no no I mean without
prohibiting the left turn is what I'm
hearing you'd like us to look at
figuring out a way to maybe make that
protected okay we can take a look at
that I can't promise I can't promise
we'll fit it in but we we'll take a look
at it and see if there's something we
can do
temporarily okay we'll take a look at it
that's that's the promise I'll make
tonight we'll take a look at
it what was that
one
okay all right one
more okay
yes
okay
okay but if okay all
right all right anything else oh
yes well I can tell you that link us is
not going to go down
Livingston um the capacity you know they
did the studies and they decided that
you know like link us was the best Main
Street was the best alternative for the
east side of Columbus Bexley whiteall
Reynoldsburg and I would say that I I
would I would if you did the traffic
studies try to Fig fit in a dedicated
Lane there it's going to be really tight
I don't know you could even fit it in
we'll
see uh but it's going down I it's the
alternative is Main Street I think that
I don't know if mayor Ben if you wanted
to address that anymore
but yeah it's it's a regional Cota
initiative to determine where they want
to put their rep and Livingston would be
further complicated because this plan
that we're talking about wouldn't work
if you had link us because of the fact
that you're going down to one LAN
regardless it's not it's not aexy
decision it's not even a Columbus
decision no initiating where they feel
theout is best populated and as the best
future for their
Transit we we do have I don't know if
Eric can address the additional
infrastructure questions when the time
comes later on I want to be respectful
of Kelly's time okay coming up six
o'clock hour and we have our police
officers from Columbus and Bexley that
I'd like to introduce there's one more
question last question all right thank
you so
much we know
living West and soing times
day also way to
change that itches
okay and I assume in Bexley you have the
The Pedestrian
lead for
test okay we'll take that suggestion
with
us
okay so I'm looking at putting the
phrase around the the signals as a
possible uh deterrent I'm looking at
what possibly anything in The 5-second
Pedestrian interval and what possibly
could be done as part of the left turns
on Francis in
Livingston and you
Clair all right and I I've got our city
engineer Jim Pike here as well this
evening and I'm going to leave you in
very
capable yeah
yeah do have to check because it does
add weight you do get you know you have
to check the signal to make sure that
everything hand even a little bit got
more wind blowing on bigger surface
those do make a hug Improvement just
that simple yellow
back we we'll we'll reach out to our our
traffic
department all right well I appreciate
your time this evening and I'm leaving
you in very capable hands with our city
engineer Jim Pike and our project
manager Eric
Lambert so I'm just kind of curious
quick show of hands if you are a
Columbus resident raise your hand there
we go Bexley residents raise your hand
all right glad that we have both
jurisdictions here we have the Bexley
chief of police chief Gary Lewis Here
along with his colleagues from the city
of Columbus he's going to introduce to
talk a little bit about policing and
safety along Livingston AV thank you
Chief
Lewis Council counil Council want toow
person
foremost not sure what's going on over
there but we'll get
started so good evening my name is Gary
Los chief of police here in Bexley um a
lot of questions comments concerns with
traffic on Livingston and really just
safety overall so we thought we would
come in and really just kind of talk
about a lot of the Dynamics and the
partnership between us and Columbus
Police Department in jurisdictional
Dynamics um there's a lot of feeling of
safety and we've got really just three
different perspectives education engine
engineering and enforcement and looking
at what engineering on Livingston and
the impact that that's had how that has
helped reduce average speeds um but
before I get into that I I do want to
introduce um deputy chief weiner along
with two commanders from Columbus their
intersections of um jurisdictions
overlap one another that impact us here
in Bexley and so they're here to also
answer some questions and I don't know
if I'm supposed to say it but one of
them is a Backle graduate
just introduce
yourself hi I'm Kelly Wier um I am a
deputy chief with Columbus Division of
police I am the deputy chief of Patrol
so I oversee all Patrol operations uh in
the city uh I've been with the division
for over 27 years and I've brought two
experts here with me if you want to go
ahead and introduce yourself
hello I'm Heath gaspie I have the Far
East Side so it's nine Precinct 14
Precinct 20
Precinct um I imagine we'll get into
some details of some stats and just
different things of uh Trends we're
seeing right now and then some
initiatives were taken in the Far
East I'm uh David gitlet I have uh
downtown South End so up to the uh west
side of actually kind of Nelson Road
area and U you guys say anything else
that I missed I'm I'm the back grad
so thank you so much for the partnership
you know over the past number of months
we've met with a lot of stakeholders so
I see a lot of familiar faces in here
and appreciate the opportunity to really
be proactive and talk about it and also
answer questions specific to that um one
of the things that we really have done
is increased the visibility I know that
there have been some questions about
Livingston Avenue in particular um the
mayor had shared in our last um city
council meeting and looked at the
numbers and seeing where according to
the Ohio Department of Public Safety
we've seen a significant drop in crashes
on Livingston Avenue especially that
happened between I believe we looked at
James to 70 and saw a Dro we also saw
the average speeds had dropped but we
know that there is a feeling that people
are still out there speeding and so we
want to kind of talk about what that
looks like um I think Columbus and and
obviously looking at some of their top
prior ities it's not a mystery that
across the country Manpower personel
resources it's a challenge and so we're
all fac with trying to do more with less
and looking at different resource
reallocation models to address a lot of
the issues but again we wanted to come
out and just talk to you about what
we're doing what we're trying to see
from a business perspective I see some
of our business owners here from
Livingston as well as some of our
residents so uh who wants to go first
questions why am I surprised I just yes
sir
so I want to make sure I get to your qu
so you want to know calls for service in
general or on Livingston or traffic
crash
data
okay so would it be acceptable if I get
that data and get with you 101 in case
they don't have all of that tonight yeah
we would need parameters
to be able to especially for this year
and then we can do some
comparisons okay is that good okay yes
sir
well I can tell you one of our um
enforcement methods that we've been
doing is monthly we look at crime stats
and we focus our visibility on the high
the violent crime areas so right now we
have been in the mayair refugee Corridor
and the Bry s quter so uh obviously we
you have resource allocation issues in
2024 policing is different than it was
20 years ago we don't just stop
everything that moves we try and get
uniformed visibility and enforc in these
targeted areas because of the violent
crime so I can tell you right now just
from August numbers that's where we're
currently at and the visibility we see
the decrease so obviously there's a
cruiser parked outside of the store
someone is less likely to go in Rob the
store if there's a cruiser out there
there's still some common sense to that
uh we try and take preventative measures
such as is that uh we go where the data
leads us to say that's not to say we
wouldn't increase visibility on
Livingston it is as we have available
Staffing and where the needs are the
most yes ma'am so you heard that city of
bexley's jurisdiction and of the
sidewalk on living so it's really all
city of Columbus that might do traffic
enforcement there could you explain sort
of where what the boundary is in terms
of it Bexley police were you know on one
of the side streets can they pull
somebody over on Livingston or is it
totally out of their hands so it the
where the offense takes place so if the
offense were to take place in Bexley and
the individual continued and stopped on
Livingston absolutely we could we could
do that but true traffic enforcement on
anything outside of our jurisdiction the
Ohio Revis code doesn't permit us to but
what it does do it does allow us to
partner with agencies and to bring
really to them concerns of of our
citizens and we know that South Bexley
Berwick um area there's been this outcry
hey we feel as though traffic concerns
are a continued concern as well as just
potential incidents um I know there have
been a couple of um fatal crashes that
have happened on Livingston Avenue and
traffic being diverted coming back
through the city so that is a dynamic
that we're very aware of when that
happens we try to work with Columbus in
getting things rerouted uh the fastest
and best way when when it when occurs
it's unfortunate but that's um that
happens it happens um I saw it yes
sir statistically we heard 19 to 23 it's
no secret I don't think to anybody in
this room that between 19 and 23 Poli
has changed the world has
changed those stats I find are very skew
I don't think they're very accurate I
know a 22e business owner that sits 100
feet from Livingston Avenue five days to
re I know that in 17 18 19 19 20 BL
pleas were very visible up and down
Livingston Avenue okay and I'm obviously
in the commercial dist um that is no
longer disability is as you said sir
violent crimes and things the disability
DET that St I understand the the
resources are not quite there I also
understand that traffic is not going to
take presidents over what's truly
important of the vi cries and things
where people need place I find that
those statistics we're using are very
skew it doesn't mean that they're not
happening for instance the traffic crash
data I watch on a daily bases and this
is no exaggeration on a daily basis I
watch an
accident that Columbus Police does not
respond to a because either it's a hid
run or because there's no it's not an
injury accident several different
variables the stats that you're looking
at are skewed for that reason you have
many more many more offenders traffic
because the and and again this is not a
Columbus problem this is not a problem
this is all over um people know that
they can get away
with and so that's why those numbers are
not quite accurate we're looking at
studies if we were looking at the same
studies in 2019 I think it would be
completely different if we were using
the same parameters if we had the same
visibility but we don't and I I think
but that's what everybody wants to see
we all want to fix but we also
understand that the resources aren't
there so where where does that you I I
just have a problem with it because I
watch it I see it and those are things
that are not getting they might be FS
for service but again on a daily basis I
see things happen to where Columbus does
not respond for whatever reason whether
it was no injury or whether somebody
took off or an exchange of information
or what happened
so I don't want to speak directly for
Columbus I'll share my perspective then
I'll let them um respond directly my
experience across the country when you
see larger agencies are simply telling
people to exchange information as
opposed to actually conducting a true
traffic crash investigation those days
are gone um I can remember even on the
interstates where we would tell people
don't move your car but now we tell them
pull over exchange information if you
can and then so I think a lot of that is
just a change in the times um so it's
not just law enforcement but I think the
insurance industry has changed an impact
of that so I don't disagree that the
number I wouldn't say they're flawed I
would just say we're not tracking them
the same because the reporting mechanism
has changed and the expectation has
changed please it's a non injury
automobile accident we have a we
fundamentally change
oury and and I completely understand
that but that's going back to my opinion
the numbers are going to be skewed
they're different
yes ma'am I'll follow up with you guys
back down when that policy changed I
would I would have to get back I'm just
wondering like comparing 2019 I won't do
the exact thing just remember um during
Co we stopped went back to it for a
short period of time and then we so the
2019 accident data are before
that so so that that does affect the
comparison we're trying to make here yes
but for the last
that dat should
be um yes ma'am and then I'll get you
sir and Sir ma'am yes
ma'am up homeless man in the middle of
the
street that's happened more than once
right there
on getting on to the
freeway
um every day and sometimes I think they
might want to be
so that they could yes you know I think
that when you look across our country of
homelessness mental health it it impacts
us all and having to manage and mitigate
that so um we all take that comment
seriously and try to do the best we can
um I will tell you I've stood at
businesses on Livingston and engaged
with our homeless community and try to
provide them services and often times
they refuse and so it is a very tough
position
um but believe you me we hear you I want
to answer the young lady then I'll get
the two gentlemen next yes
ma'am it's a nice Saturday
night and you can't keep your windows
open because Livingston becomes
motorcycle
out and I think they go there because
they know there's
no and the traffic might be a little
less at that time
come
so um this is helpful because what it
can do it can help me to then help shape
the request and asking them with their
motor unit to potentially help us in
addressing that concern so that's
definitely something that that we can
IUS all over the city on the weekends
and I know think this weekend we have
operation
uh internally we've call it operation
burnout and where we try to plan for
these events when we find out about them
or hear Rumblings on social media and
whatnot and like
uh we get a location we think they're at
um but they go throughout the city and
we spend the night chasing down you guys
seen gave us
a get new tires rest it's difficult to
address
100s take off yeah it's um and the
motorcycles present an entirely
different challenge one okay so we have
cars and motorcycles out there visible
but the rity is now
what now and that's just being very
honest you know um having spent almost
five years in Louisville Kentucky I
literally just last week watched
officers being swarmed by these
individuals and taking over them and
their Cruisers um it's becoming very
violent and and often and very unsafe
for officers um so how do we manage that
and so these are conversations that
we're having all across the country but
s with the the Hat I know you had a
question I wanted to be
responsive
please um another great call out and
we'll continue to work with their motor
unit uh to see if we can get them to get
back out on Livingston so um Mr Lewis
yeah so um Mr Lewis you you know me very
well and I I will say this anyone that
when's the last time anybody drove
Interstate
71 Interstate
71 okay so on Interstate 7 one please no
judgment I have every mile poost
memorized every mile poost I can tell
you exactly every exit every
location it's a occupational um
knowledge and I say that to say this at
every crossover I can tell you where
every state trooper is and I can tell
you that as a state trooper who had set
in that median this is what you see the
front of those cars drop when they see
the car
everybody slows down there's nothing but
brake lights people are flashing
everybody else telling them that you're
there yes there are there's technology
saying speed trap ahead and you know
what happens once they don't see that
Cruis in the
rearview they pick back up and so I
agree that it's a it it slows the
deterrence component but it's
short-lived and so that's why I think
education engineering and the
enforcement piece is so critical and I
will say that what's happening
engineering wise on Livingston there has
been a lot of changes where we've been
able to see some reduction but I do
think that you know we'll continue to
find some best practices and and work
with our partners so who else um yes sir
because you didn't really get a question
you had a comment so
please it's human um and that's across
the country I think you guys are down
how many hundred two two
300 on what day yeah yeah
um yes
sir off
that the city
ofus
city so great question so this would be
my response um having tremendous respect
for Columbus Police and their leadership
I reach out to their boss and I call
Chief bran I say Chief I know you're
down folks why don't you let my team go
and handle Livingston and if I'm Chief
Bryant you know what I'm going to say
Gary great appreciate the call hey I got
uh Nelson I got broad I've got Hamilton
I got James if you want it I'm GNA give
it all to you so In fairness we have a
lot of
adjacent roadways that impact our
community and we have to be mindful and
I think that in some ways it gives us a
insallation as a department because the
mayor and Council they're going to hold
me accountable to What's Happening Here
in Bexley
but they also as a community your job is
to hold me accountable to work with our
partners to say what can we do to to not
only hear you but try to do the best we
can with with uh under the
law aspect being to us 00
I understand that I I understand and
respect that and and that's why we're
being very transparent and saying what
we can and can't do but also trying to
find ways to do rather than just saying
you know what it's it's not ours so we
have heard and listen and we've meet
very frequently with stakeholders and
talk about these things and try and and
there's different intervals based upon
their Staffing and when we can do it so
even if we come out 30 days we give a
break so we'll see that drop things will
be good and then it it will pick up and
that's unfortunate but that's just kind
of how things work I saw somebody else
yes ma'am and then Tim I'll get you
yes so camera technology um we can
enforce with that so um cities are um
they lose federal state monies if they
utilize that technology and typically
that's at red lights um where you you
saw that kind of first be introduced and
that has slowly gone away um typically
with um and you know we've only got
really in in our community we've just
got Maine and or Livingston and
college it's really it from a a light
perspective that we would even be able
to entertain something like that and
there's just a um a fiscal component
that wouldn't be advantageous for us to
do it and that would be on the city of
Columbus and it wouldn't even be on us
in
Bexley mik
want
to mhm
I'm
not so we have been advocating for the
safe lck camera but it's LPR
technology to be favorable to one
company but um we uh we being um
leadership in the division of police
have been actively um
that's what I'm searching for um
advocating advocating pleading with with
city leaders uh expensive to to purchase
this technology so um we did recently
secure a grant um for uh I forget the
exact number but it was LPR technology
but the grant was tied to shot spotter
technology so the lprs had to be placed
in the three areas where we have shot
spotter technology but almost every
meeting I'm in we're talking about the
benefits of LPR technology and um I've
been in some meetings recently where
private business owners have um that
that that have quite a lot of businesses
have said hey can I buy some flock
cameras and put it on a city like Po um
so right now that those discussions are
happening but um we we we very much
support that technology so we are
constantly working towards that yeah pgy
back off Chief said um when we have an
abatement process with one of our
apartment complexes and for instance one
of them is Amberly Square uh and our
Zone attorneys get involved they request
um as part of how to make the apartment
complex better more safe and secure they
did have a plot camera in Amberly Square
prior to us even being aware that that
was one of the adjustments the complex
need so it's not just at traffic
intersections we're trying to get as
many cameras as we can there because
they assist greatly with a number of
Investigations and we can share
information from live State who has a
ton of cameras Etc so it's not just
traffic intersections Etc it is where we
can put them when we can the last part
that never heard of them
you want me to take that one
what what that does
that so in so in 2012 yeah in 2012 the
Columbus metr Post opened up there on
alen Creek it had eight motor unit and
12 Mark Cruisers I happen to know
because I started
it and up until 2020 when Co hit and a
Direction new superintendent came in and
removed all the Metro Post in Cleveland
Columbus and Cincinnati and so although
there is still a small presence it is
nothing like it once was and so they
typically stay in the outer bels now on
that 270 and getting back to Old School
fundamentals and staying in the rural
areas and really trying to impact the
fatalities that are happening in
especially in Franklin County one of the
challenges is for me um and even for the
patrol and I don't want to misspeak for
them but I think it the jurisdiction
piece I would never want Columbus to
feel as though they weren't pulling
their weight and then we went to for
lack of better terms at third party who
has clearly said we have got to get out
of the business of working the city
streets and back to the core of who we
are and that's the rural areas and
that's
why
yes they're just getting coffee
[Laughter]
why don't we do one more question yes
sir
and here's the flip side you know we
haven't
yeah yeah and and only because um yeah
only because I I don't know if you guys
know it or not but there's an election
coming
up I know so this is why I say that
Columbus's motor is a primary key
partner in motor Cades and so things are
going to start ramping up for them and
so really I Envision in the next week or
so they're going to be getting called
upon because I think you're going to
start seeing an uptick let's face it
Ohio has always seen that these are
predictable moments and so even in the
best case in in saying to you yes the
reality is it's not going to happen I
think that they're going to be solely
focused on providing that support as we
look at um an uptick in in that but um
lastly I'll say this um for those bexy
residents and Berwick and and adjacent
thank you for taking time out of your
evening to come and have um just open
dialogue and conversation these can
continue I try to make myself pretty
available don't I
sir i' I've I've I I I've had to take a
l a lot of uh um let's say um
ear moments and and listening but that's
my job that's why I'm here I'm here to
listen but not just listen but to
implement after a lot of the suggestions
the feedback um and we we've we've
solved some crimes together out there
there in your parking lot as well so um
I want to thank Columbus Police um
cannot say it enough to have uh Deputy
Chief and and the two commanders come in
and really support us and we will
continue to have not just the
conversations but to see what we're
doing and adding some additional
resources and for those in the room that
I see who uh make sure we are doing our
best to address traffic concerns in
Bexley as well it's not just about
Livingston we get a number number of
complaints of speeding violations and so
we are using driveways of our citizens
um I'm coming out and parking in
driveways increasing visibility we're
looking at buying some more handheld
units with laser or radar to be able to
enforce so trust me we're doing uh a lot
as a direct result of your concerns so
thank you so much Mr thank you we're
good thank you so much for
being all right
guys another round of applause it means
a lot to have our Columbus friends here
thank you so
much all right um we're going to try to
get through the next couple slides a
little quickly we're going to try to
parse this as simply as we can but we
want to talk about what's coming next
the chief spoke about uh policy
enforcement and infrastructure
infrastructure is a huge piece of how to
continue to inform uh safety along
Livingston avue so a couple years ago
Bexley and Columbus jointly worked
together uh to apply for funding to get
the joint Livingston Avenue plan
proposals and to see them the actual
long-term infrastructure put into place
and that includes reconstruction of the
roadway the landscape meetings we talked
about shared use path on both the North
and South sides the treeon on both North
and South sides U improved Street
lighting including uh traffic
backing on the traffic lights that is
actually part of this project um storm
water improvements signal Replacements
and upgrades to kot's uh service
infrastructure um again the the image
that you're seeing here for the
residential piece is what that final
Vision looks like we received um funding
from the federal government for this
project uh to the tune of uh just over
$13 million um there is matching funds
coming from Bexley there are matching
funds coming from Bexley and Columbus um
actually that number I think has gone up
a little bit since uh some inflationary
pressure has been put on it um but it's
a with a federal project comes a federal
timeline so I want to I want to
contextualize this and uh bring sort of
this timeline into clear Focus we're in
the process today of working through we
started engineering with an engineering
firm to take the the beautiful images
that we see with the joint living Avenue
plan and bring them to reality with
actual engineering drawing
um this shows a timeline that's going to
show construction kind of started in the
2029 time frame roughly um but the real
Pro in the room we have Jim and Eric
with the city of Columbus Eric's gonna
talk about and Matt if you could grab
him a microphone um Eric with City
Columbus one of the project leads on
here and also Matt Kingler are uh our
new director of building and planning um
Project Lead for the Beckley side are
going to talk about what that that looks
like in the in the coming years Eric
great thank you mayor um first I want to
say I love the participation everyone
coming out um as part of the project we
will have a few public meetings I hope
to see everybody out there I'm going to
plug that now um because this input and
feedback is always appreciated to help
make sure that the project is delivering
I heard some things tonight that we're
going to track down and make sure that
hey these are questions we're going to
put to the consultant make sure let's
find an answer here and maybe the answer
is that idea we can't do that but
hopefully we can tell you why so that so
that we all have some clarity as to why
we're doing things and and how things
are
prioritized um as a mayor said right now
we are uh we're working up what we call
a preliminary alignment so that is the
step where we're going from this
planning document and it's kind of the
first
highlevel plan that we're putting on
paper so now we're starting to get some
specifics we're we're building it in a
drawing um some of the things that I've
heard tonight like the people using the
turning lane as a passing Lane I don't
think that's going to really work
especially once you get past college
whenever we're going to have medians in
there it really takes away the ability
to race whenever you can't be side by
side the I think the motorcycles I don't
know about that that one may be a little
more difficult um but what we're trying
to do is we're trying to take what I
would call these tactical solutions that
have been put out there the restriping
and so forth and all of the benefits and
we're going to put these into strategic
solution so you're going to see hard
solutions that will be a little more
rigid as to what we're trying to uh
promote in the form of safety throughout
the
corridor um we'll get a much bigger Peak
with that preliminary alignment which is
coming uh here in
November um we'll look at it we'll make
some tweaks and give better direction as
to the consultant so that they can keep
moving um I do not remember off the top
of my head when they have the uh first
public meeting scheduled but we'll we'll
get that out um definitely I would imag
in that there will be a mailer so
everyone should get like a whatever a
five and a half by eight card that that
has details on it um and at that time we
will have a formal more formal comment
period so once we get through that
that's when we definitely want to get
comments written comments and so forth
so that we can start developing a
document that that's addressing all of
those um as mayor said ultimately the
construction
will begin it can begin as early as the
second half of
2028 um our budget that's constrained to
the budget year that the funding for
this uh Grant was that was
awarded um so in between that time we're
going to keep going through the design
then we'll have to get through um
probably the worst part of it if it's
not the construction but that's uh right
away acquisition it's not a it's not a
fun topic for anyone okay um but a
necessary one um we're working to try
and minimize those
impacts um but that will take about a
year to a year and a half to get through
and then after that we'll begin the
construction process not sure
what I'm I'm more than happy to take
questions go ahead yeah thank you very
much uh sorry hop in here um but you
know I'm just hearing 2028 and 2029 and
I'm just saying that just seems too long
to me and I understand that we have to
wait on a budget and a Federal Grant and
such but I mean I'm looking at this is
city Columbus has a problem and there
could be a quicker fix to it whether it
be in the form of temporary medians um
or or some other traffic control me
measure that could further the
improvements made by the resurfacing and
painting so I guess my question is um
why not find a more moderate change in
the meantime while we get to that point
um of the full
redo now you're talking a little bit
over my head but I'm probably going to
guess that it's ultimately going to come
down to the additional cost that that
gets down to it um striping is
relatively cheap if you're talking about
leveling it up to some quick curb or
even some Jersey barriers um now we're
talking a lot more money to either get
them out and deploy them
purchase them and so forth
and it I understand it's needed don't
get me wrong I understand this process
takes a long time I mean a lot of our
projects from fast is five years to to
get from um conception through
construction that is extremely fast um
it's other than bourbon I don't know
many other products that have that side
of cycle I I I don't mean to beat you up
I'm a Kentucky too I went to I went
there I see but you know I'm looking at
this and I I just you know I drive on
the highway all across Ohio every single
day and I see those orange meetings I
don't know exactly how much they cost
but I mean if you throw a few of those
in there in certain areas it might slow
down or impede somebody's ability to cut
over and I'm looking at this as a city
council member as Columbus's problem we
feel like we're we're we're stuck up
here because we only own so much land or
have control over it and the remainder
is Columbus we just heard the police
tell us they don't have the resources to
assist us right now because it's not a
violent crime area thank goodness right
but there's still danger out there and
so I guess Eric not to beat up on you
but if you could send that message back
that we're looking for some form of a
temporary solution prior to 2028
2029 I will bring that back I I will say
that I do appreciate the question
because if you have it I I know I've
gotten it on other projects from a ton
of other people um I know it's odd our
process is a little weird in that way um
so I appreciate the opportunity to
address
that any other questions yes
ma'am I
[Music]
mean have sidewalks and I look wh living
right now and I'm going I don't see
it
um
I'm I'm saying we may have to get right
away just as it's kind of a matter of
fact right now I don't know where I
don't know how much if I was a betting
man we're there's G to probably be some
right away I don't have those specifics
okay so I'm trying to manage
expectations a little bit um by bringing
it up at all and and that is going
through engineering right now so that's
that November alignment Eric talked
about there's going to be a follow-up
meeting in I think it's early 2025 we
talked about Workshop um where those
sorts of where that's engineering now
has survey topographical looking at
those specifics the rideway extends a
little further past the sidewalk and
right now Livingston has that striping
between the curb and the travel Lane
which so it works a little bit better
than you might think but it it's
definitely going to need it's in the
process of close study I'm just doing
rough math because that's what I do but
um up there if you add up all those
widths in that cross-section right there
it gets to be I think it's 80 feet
roughly um the generally the corridor I
believe from what I've seen on documents
um ranges between 70 and 80 feet
throughout the this section of
Livingston and to the question about
link us I've got another project on the
other side of 70 um going living and all
the way down to Children's that Corridor
is 60 feet wide so that's
really tight we're trying to do about
the same thing with a lot less space so
um I don't know how Linkus would get
through a 60 foot
Corridor um yes
sir discussion about sidewalk idea 10
foot wide sidewalk when I saw that it
scared me to death because we talked
about the motorcycles and mopeds and
ATVs that are out there now and you take
that plane away you have a wide
sidewalk sidewalk in fact I wouldn't
even put it past but the 10 sidewalk see
cars come down through there people that
are racing now we're not talking about
average folks here talk about people in
The Fringe and it scares me to think
about a 10 foot wide sidewalk and
frankly I think that makes it sound more
like a commercial area than a
residential um I I just don't know why
we would want to T sidewalk
to give up part of my yard and I don't
want to bring anything that's out there
now I consider that a security concern
the re come up
here we're next door neighbors and we
have both seen people on this small
sidewalks goast our now those M and
things like that are on there all the
time I've I've had I've done another
project where I completely believe this
because
um it we put in a shared use path very
similar maybe different Noma clature but
it was 10t wide and the road took a 90
degree turn um as soon as it opened saw
an old lady just go up a driveway and
then start driving down the the shared
use path she didn't even know it I mean
she got to a Ballard at the end um and
she didn't know what to do
so let me bring that back back and see
if we can find some solutions um we've
got a few things to juggle
like we got to keep uh people who have
driveways they got to remain open I
think anyone who has a driveway will
appreciate that um and then by law we
need to keep what we technically call a
pedestrian access route so that is our
fancy way of saying this is a dedicated
path whether it's the full width or not
um that meets uh ADA requirements
Americans with Disabilities Act
requirements
so it's a challenge I I I hear it if if
people are going that far out of their
way to just do whatever they want I I'm
not exactly sure how we can engineer
that better but I'll bring it back and
we'll we'll see if we can come up with
some ideas and real quickly but on this
point Counterpoint which is um one of
the major concerns that we have we have
as a city and that we heard as part of
our plan
is pedestrian safety and cyclist safety
so those are when we look at the serious
accidents that have occurred in
Livingston even just recently it's it
tends to be pedestrian and cyclist where
that's that's the real issue um a shared
use path gives a safe route for cyclists
and we have an an analog right now if
you drive up Alum Creek South of Main
Street you're seeing a very similar
condition in that Alum Creek greenw
Trail now I don't I'm not haven't heard
that's not in in beex although portion
of it is I don't hear a whole lot of
reports about um other types of vehicles
using those and there are ballards
installed and there are other key
indicators that those are not streets
and when you come along side streets
you're jogging with with the Ada ramps
and there are other changes that are
different from a straight up street so
those are really important in the design
phase but I think the thing that we need
to keep front and center is we're trying
to protect people who are cycling and
people who are walking and then
Property Owners along the street by
creating these additional barriers for
greater safety on the corridor and
that's a big a big piece of that uh
concept
yes I that is um on my other project
that's just a little ahead of this this
is something that we got into uh very
deeply with the Columbus fire department
um one of the solutions that we're
talking about implementing with them we
need their Health with it is
um the word
um preemption that's it
sorry the the Technologies essentially
we call it preemption so there will be a
GPS transponder in the firet TRU and
there will be a receiver at each
intersection so when the fire truck gets
close there they'll communicate and it
will turn the signals so that they keep
going like they'll get green lights fire
trucks emergency uh ambulances and
particular of course they still have to
do their due diligence through
intersections and so forth um but this
should help it going that's one of the
topics that we talked about you see that
you have one vehicle and you have Curb
on each side can't really get over so
the best thing that we can do is keep
going uh and make sure that there are as
many opportunities for the fire
department to
cross yes
sirel
moreable I I appreciate that um
we can we can bring that back um and see
if if there are resources to do
something like that but that's that too
will need to go through a design cycle
um to make sure it Ma uh meets all the
requirements of the manual for uniform
traffic control devices which basically
so that anyone from Ohio is kind of
driving on a similar Road like the way
it's signed and so forth that it that
it's what they expect um so that's why
we've got a design Eric we have time for
like one or two more questions no you're
great yes
ma'am I will I will I will make sure
that that that gets the chain and see if
we can do that okay yes
sirs
because two lanes to get to the single
Lane yeah and then they race going west
from
one lane two Lan and when people talking
about motorcycle racing and that I think
that's is there any shortterm plan to
help that area and slow down that TR I
have been asking for a while for a
speed test whatever on that intersection
Hasen so far that is a much more
dangerous area
we'll I'll definitely bring it back to
the team as far as like right now what
the essentially I would say the plan is
is getting from two lanes down to one um
you see that taper um my first thought
went right right right no no I I I
understand that and then to exacerbate
that if we somehow triy to put in a left
turn lane at the same time uh I think
that gets very very challenging right
now it's very challenging but we're
putting on another very
um for the for the
driver that's
I yes yes if even sa on this one that
one's a little over my head I these are
all good so I guess go off of what this
process is going to be there are federal
dollars that are attached to the the old
and approvement with that we do have to
follow a that whole process of public
engagement there will be more formal uh
opportunities to to comment um when we
get to preliminary engineering there's
going to be an opportunity for everybody
to come in and you'll be able to weigh
in on a variety things actually put
comments down uh we do have to follow
with the Ohio Department of
Transportation says we have to do to
clear what we call an environmental doc
of
is part of that um this is just kind of
a information purpose meeting right here
but we'll get into those more formal
ones I'll say if you have spe a specific
question right now to me the best thing
for you to do is put in a 311
request talk about that that will go to
our right now what you're talking about
falls under our depart our division of
traffic manag so they are the ones that
uh handle all the signals they're the
ones that put out there if there's a
speed requests you want to do a speed
study they'll go out they get those
requests they do them throughout the
city I understand you know there's
there's talk you want to do a temporary
solution now you know this is one
quarter we could be doing a temporary
Solution on the other section of
Livingston we could be doing it on
probably a hundred other sections in the
city of Columbus the these little
temporary things they're not cheap it's
not just putting up you put up barrels
we were looking at something on Broad
Street it was like a million and a half
dollars to put up a little temporary
demonstration that also has to meet
safety requirements so you can't just
put barrels up and then there's a
liability we take on so it's stuff that
is we look at it we take it
seriously it's we got to make sure that
we're doing it as as as best we
can all right you know but uh anyhow
that's thank you Jim and thank you Eric
and um we're gonna do some more thank
yous here in a second I wanted to really
quickly introduce um I introduced Matt
Kingler a second ago Matt uh is is
beckley's point on this project from the
city of City side we have staged this
website be.org Livingston actually since
the joint Livingston Avenue plan we're
going to continue to populate that with
a lot of information Matt how can people
get a hold of you uh if they want to
provide feedback yep um the be the best
way to get a hold of me is mingler
becky. you can find my email on the
website uh you can also call me at 61455
n-
4243 that's my direct line so if you
have any questions and and I'll be
responsible uh working with Megan Meyer
our director development and Natalie as
far as updating the website it's an
eight-year process so if you don't see
any updates you know for like six months
don't you know be upset you can call me
you can email me and certainly if you
have any questions or you want to get
something to the city of Columbus and
you know I can reach out to Jim and Eric
and take it back we have monthly
meetings that I that I meet with them so
I'm the PM from our side you can get a
hold of me okay and we will have a
public Workshop as part of this coming
up in the early part of 2025 real
quickly can we go around the Das and
introduce ourselves I'm really proud of
the team that we have here and all of
your elected officials are up front here
let's start with Megan who is
our Danny Hurley City Council Alex
Silverman city council Jess sad city
council city council Sam Marcelino city
council Martin City Council and we also
have with us um Columbus council member
lorda State brosa here lordis do you
want toh say
anything thank you for joining us and
I'll you can use that microphone right
there so good evening everyone I am
Columbus city council member
L um I actually chair public service and
transportation for the city of Columbus
I want to thank our team uh for being
here today um and I'm also importantly
your neighbor I actually live in
eastmore I was born and raised in
Mayfair um on South Wyant Avenue where
eastmore High School is and live on
South Kar Road uh so I was born and
raised this is also clearly the district
that I represent pretty much the
southeast part of Ohio so all are Ohio
I'm giving myself a raise Columbus um so
that's uh everything from the border of
Bexley down to no big speed down through
the South End to OBET and then up
through uh Driving Park on Livingston so
I want to thank uh folks for being out
here today I would also encourage you to
also reach out to my office I work very
closely obviously as a chair of public
service but we've been doing lots of
exciting things I'm sure if you haven't
heard of our vision zero project which
is the vision that um by that there are
Zero fatalities or serious crashes um
and that has to do a lot with
infrastructure so we talked a lot about
inforcement which I think is where
people think about a lot uh of times is
how they think about how we enforce the
laws but one thing that we know is that
we can't always prevent human error but
we can build structures that help to
prevent some of the things that we're
talking about and I know I've been
sharing public service for three years
now and some of the things that we see
feel contrary to what um what feels
obvious right but a lot of work goes
behind how we build our streets we're
working with morsy the mid Ohio plan
Regional Planning Commission on thinking
about a complete streets uh policy for
the entire region that thinks about how
we reconstruct and rebuild our streets
to include safety within that and so
some of the things that we are talking
about Road diets and uh lead pedestrian
intervals that gives people more time to
cross the street uh Vision zero how um
we are again thinking about our
infrastructure to uh to protect us
against that human error are things that
we are digging deep into and so while
this project is one that is a longer
term project we are thinking about what
we call Quick Fix uh or tactical
urbanism projects which are some of the
things that you all mentioned I will
tell you barrels will do nothing people
can still hit barrels it is something it
is like a caution sign right and uh
there are other fixes that we can think
about certainly and that's something
that we've been having conversations
about because as we think about the
corridor you cannot think about
Livingston without thinking about Maine
or broad they are thing all three of
them go together and they affect each
other because right now we're doing a
project at Broad and James and people go
down my street because they're trying to
avoid the project on James because
there's a backup now because of traffic
right so we know that these things
happen and these are constant
conversations that we're having I want
to thank mayor Kesler because I know
that he is deeply committed we're
serving on uh committees together at
Mory and I know that he's deeply
committed to uh pedestrian safety deeply
committed to Traffic Safety and thank
you for inviting me to this meeting I
mean this is uh I live in a piece of
Columbus that is between two other
municipalities and so uh we are
dependent on each other what happens in
Bexley needs to go all the way through
to well what happens in Columbus then
happens in Bexley then happens in
Columbus it happens in whiteall then in
Columbus again and then Reynoldsburg so
I think thinking about how we use our
streets and the input of all of our
residents whether you live in Columbus
or not is important because I think your
Chief said it what you see and what you
feel uh is important um and the data we
know that it that is one piece of that
perspective so again um I encourage
folks to reach out I'm happy to come to
any other meetings like this or have
conversations with folks about the
things that we are seeing in your parts
of the neighborhood which is my
neighborhood too this is where we shop
this is where uh my kids ride their
bikes and come to Bexley it is to me
just another neighborhood of a greater
part of city that we uh all love and
live in so again thank you for being
here today and thank you for all your
comments and feedback thank you Council
woman okay we are coming up on an actual
council meeting started in three minutes
so uh real quick next steps we've been
writing down the questions that we've
received this evening to the extent that
we can get clear answers we will be uh
Distributing an FAQ through our website
and on the blast um with answers to some
of the questions that weren't able to be
pulled directly tonight um couple things
to just let you know about I want to
just celebrate this Council that we have
here tonight they have funded flock
cameras those came up this evening we
have a dozen flock cameras that are
being deployed in Bexley have been
deployed in Bexley and are currently in
the process of going live um they have
really uh doubled down on funding of
Public Safety our Police Department is
better funded better staffed than it has
been in the history of the Bexley Police
Department we have more uh officers than
we've ever ever had before providing
greater service to our community and I
want to just celebrate you as a council
for making that happen and allowing us
to to do that as a community and I think
we've seen with our chief here tonight
uh those dollars have been really well
spent and we're seeing them pay back in
spad to our community and so I want to
thank you Council for that support and
uh it's something that we're going to
continue to always prioritize here in
the city um we will have public
workshops following about Livingston
Avenue you can stick around and learn
about tax increment financing if you
want to this evening uh we will be uh
starting that council meeting in two
minutes thank you for joining us this
evening thanks to Columbus Columbus did
not have to join us you guys are great
thank you for being here