test one okay good
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 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 Kessler 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 let me call technical support over
here so joint Livingston plan overview
so the cities of Bexley and Columbus
embarked on a joint Livingston Avenue
plan in the year
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 and we were having increasingly
incredibly alarming accidents vehicles
in
houses um uh really excessive speeding
on Livingston Avenue and some 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
into the to that um and notably and the
reason um the partnership with Columbus
is very special and really appreciated
is Bexley 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
sidewalks bexley's Municipal boundary
happens just north of those sidewalks
and so any sort of improvement that we
as the city ofex 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 came u 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
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
they called for to the extent possible
reducing curb Cuts long Livingston
trying to start circulating traffic
behind those businesses um creating a a
treeon 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
fourl uh Street in the short term moving
to what we see today and Kelly scotco
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 lanane when it's not
being used to turn onto streets becomes
a meum 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 a 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 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 too 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 scacco with the city
of Columbus uh thank you so much for
joining us Kelly is going to talk about
traffic statistics short-term
improvements and progress today hi good
evening everyone as mayor Ben said I am
Kelly skako 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 you 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 resurfaced 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 Road 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 this street
before and after the 2022 implementation
of the lane
reconfiguration we found that average
speeds decreased 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 mph
this is a 35 m per hour Zone people
driving excess of 50 mil per
hour which is of course 15 miles per
miles per hour above the speed limit
decreased on an average of 1 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 m per hour I
think we would all agree is
98 People Too 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
Livingston Avenue from just east of
college to just west of James Road so
not including the college or James
intersections 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 y 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
safy two weeks ago we had
one what's what um intersection was it
at yeah
sure okay
three fatalities oh
okay yes
sure
seen so they do fly down
through I haven't seen any going that
fast since the Improvement you
definitely slow the traic down but I
still seen using is one
of
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 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 time
because
you right
okay are coming up in a second
yep
okay yeah
Eric are you
familiar
yeah and
Francis
okay okay
yeah there's no turn on to
Franc 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 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
oh 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 linkas was the best Main
Street was the best alternative for the
east side of Columbus Beckley 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 dve that anymore
but yeah a
Regal initiative determine where they
want to put their route 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 lane but regardless it's not it's
not a Bexley decision it's not even a
Columbus decision no initiating where
they feel the route is best populated
and has 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
okay
and I assume in Backle you have the The
Pedestrian lead
pedestrian most wonderful thing I've
seen in years I can I had trouble seeing
we
cop okay I'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-sec
Pedestrian interval and what possibly
could be done as part of the left turns
on Francis in living
and J
Clair all right and I I've got our city
engineer Jim Pike here as well this
evening and I'm Gonna Leave You in very
capable yeah
yeah usually you do have to check
because it does add weight you do get
you know you have to to make
everything a little
wind make Improvement just that simple
yellow back but 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 Avenue thank you Chief Lewis
Council Council Council want to
acknowledge you first and
foremost not sure what's going on over
there but we'll get
started so good evening my name is Gary
Lois 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
would come in and really just kind of
talk about a lot of the Dynamics and the
partnership between us and Columbus
Police Department and jurisdictional
Dynamics um there's a lot of feeling of
safety and we've got really just three
different perspectives education
engineering and enforcement and looking
at what engineering on Livingston and
the impact that that's had how that has
help reduce average speeds um but before
I get into that I I do want to introduce
um deputy chief Wier along with two
commanders from Columbus their
intersections of jurisdictions overlap
one another that impact us here in
Beckley 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 backley
graduate had
noide just introduce
yourself hi I'm Kelly weiner 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
your 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 uh you guys say anything else I
miss I'm I'm actually graduate if
I 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 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 um I believe we looked
at James to 70 and saw a drop 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 priorities it's not a mystery that
across the country Manpower personal
resources it's a challenge and so we're
all faced with trying to do more with
less and looking at different resource
reality ation 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
question 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 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 uh one of our um
enforcement methods that we've been
doing is monthly we look crime St 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 in the seven Corridor so uh
obviously would 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 in
enforcement in 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 park 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 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 the sidewalk
Liv 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 if 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 Co
incidence 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 and
getting things rerouted uh the fastest
and best way when when it when it occurs
it's unfortunate but that's um that
happens it happens um I saw yes
sir statistically we heard 19 to 23 no
secret I don't think to anybody in this
room between 19 and 23 policing has
changed the world has changed just
is those stats I find are very skewed I
don't think they're very accurate I know
a 22e business owner that sits 100 feet
from Livingston Avenue five days a week
I know that in 17 18 19 20 Blum were
very visible up and down Li okay and I'm
obviously in the commercial dist um that
is no longer visibility is as you said
sir violent crimes and things the
visibility deserv that St I understand
the the resources are not quite there I
also understand that trffic is not going
to take president over what's truly
important the B things people place I
find that those statistics that 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
basis 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
columus problem this is not a problem
this is all over um people know that
they can get away away
this 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
that 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 is 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 Falls
for service but again on a daily basis I
see things happen to where Columbus does
not respond for whatever reason whether
it is no injury or whether somebody took
off or it was 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 change
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 non injury
automobile accident we have a we
fundamentally change
our so and and I completely understand
that but that's going back to my opinion
the numbers are going to be few they're
different yes ma'am I'll follow up with
you guys
back that policy changed I would I would
have to get back I'm wondering like
comping 2019 do the exact thing just
don't remember um during Co we stopped
it went back to it for a short period of
time and then we got so the 2019
accident data
thatc so that that does affect the
comparison we're trying to make
here but for the last or four years
should
be um yes ma'am and then I'll get you
sir and Sir ma'am yes ma'am
homeless man in the middle of the
street that's happened more than once
right there
on getting on
freeway
um every day I mean 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
inid at 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 engage with
our homeless community and try to
provide them services and oftentimes
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
because Livingston becomes motorcycle
out and I think they go there because
they know
there and the traffic might be a little
less at that time night
I
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 all over the city on the weekends
I know think this week we have
operation internally we 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 um and like you said
uh we will get a location where we think
they're at um but they go throughout the
city and we spend the night chasing down
you guys ever seen fion where they all
and that's kind how it
is I know one
time tires gave us
a get new tires rest it's difficult to
address it's um and the motorcycles
present an entirely different challenge
one okay so we have cars and motorcycles
out there visible but the route is now
what 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 Sir 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
sure
yeah so um Mr Lewis you 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 71 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 sat 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
cruise in the rear view they pick back
up and so I agree that it's a it it
slows the deterrence components 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
Sirus
hasd police officers they don't
have
that that the city of
Columbus pay
for city of police tool
that's already 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 Bryan and
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 I'm gonna 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 going 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
some insulation as a department because
the mayor and Council they're going to
hold me accountable to What's Happening
Here in Bexley but they're 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
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 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 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 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
beex mik
that so we have been advocating for the
the say lot camera but it's LPR
technology to be favorable to one a
company but um we uh we being um
leadership and division of police have
been actively
um what I'm searching for um advocating
advocating pleading with with city
leaders uh to expensive to to purchase
it 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 plot
cameras and put it on a city light pole
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 and
piggy back off what the chief said um
when we have an abatement process with
one of our apartment complexes and for
instance one of them 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 made so it's not
just at traffic intersections we're
trying to as many cameras as we can in
there because they assist greatly with a
number of
Investigations and we can share
information from State who has a ton of
cameras Etc so it's not just traffic
intersections Etc it is where we can put
when we
can last
part never heard of them
you want me take that
one so in so in 2012
yeah in 2012 the Columbus Metro post
opened up there on Alam 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 a 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 belts
now 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
jurisdictional 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 of 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 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 motorcades 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've 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 we've solved
some crimes together out 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 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 thank you we're good
thank you so much for
appreciate 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 Avenue so a couple years ago
Beckley 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 pass on both the North
and South sides the tree lawn 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 C'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 plan
and bring them to reality with actual
engineering drawings um this shows a
timeline that's going to show
construction kind of starting 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 going
to 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 our uh our
new director of building and planning um
Project Lead for the Beckley side are
going to talk about what that what that
looks like in the in the coming years
Eric great thank you mayor um first I
want to say I 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 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
imagine 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
RightWay 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 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 as 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 curve 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 fan too I went to there I
went there I see you 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 are 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
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
planting and we're going to have white
sidewalks and I look at the of
Livingston right now and I'm going I
don't
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 going to probably be
some ride way 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 to 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 crosssection 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 Livingston 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 some discussion about the the
sidewalk idea 10 foot wide sidewalk when
I saw that it scared me to death because
we talked about the motorcycles and
mopeds and the ATVs that are out there
now when you take that plane away you
have a 10 foot wide
sidewalk sidewalk in fact I wouldn't
even put it past but the tent sidewalk
seeing cars come down through there
people that are racing now we talk about
average folks here people on 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 just I just don't know
why we would want a 10 wi sidewalk and I
don't want to up part of my yard I don't
want to bring anything that's out there
now consider that a security concern for
the reasons that come up here
tonight we next door
and we have both seen people on the
small sidewalks that go past our house
right now those mops 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
clure but it was 10t wide and the road
took a 90 degree turn uh 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 too a Ballard at the
end um and she didn't know what to do
so let me bring that 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 app
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 and real quickly but on
this point a 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 Greenways Trail now I don't I'm
not I haven't heard it'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 right
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 help 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
firr 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 Emer uh ambulances in
particular of course they still have to
do their due diligence through
intersection 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 um and make sure that there are as
many opportunities for the fire
department to
cross yes
sir back on
speakable 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 m 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 to design Eric we have time
for like one or two more questions I'm
sorry no you're great yes ma'am
I will I will I will make sure that that
that gets up the chain and see if we can
do that okay yes sir I com anyone that
drives on daily basis like I um
understands that
the cars from the corner two lanes to
get to the single Lane yeah and then
they going west from where it goes one
lane two Lan and when people are talking
about motorcycle racing and that I think
that's where the major of it is there
any short-term plan to help that area
slow
I have been asking for a while for
Speed Test whatever on that intersection
has so far that is a much more dangerous
area City slow
down we 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 tried 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 vary um for the
for the
driver that's I
yes yes if you save me on this one that
one's a little over my
head I mean these are all good so I
guess to to go off of what this process
is going to be there are federal dollars
that are attached to the the ultimate
improvement 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 prelim engineering there's going
to be an opportunity for everybody to
come in and you'll be able to weigh in
on a variety of things actually put
comments down uh we do have to follow
what the Ohio Department of
Transportation says we have to do to
clear what we call an environmental do
public engagement 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
false under our depart our division of
traffic management so they are the ones
that uh handle all the signals they're
the ones that put out there if there's a
speed request you want to do a speed
study they'll go out they get those
requests they do them throughout the
city I understand we 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're 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 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 best we
can all right 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 bexley'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 y um the be the best way to get
a hold of me is mingler becky. org you
can find my email on the website uh you
can also call me at 61455 n42 43 that's
my direct line so if you have any
questions and and I'll be responsible
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 dis 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 Oran P city council Sam
Marcelino city
council Martin City Council
and we also have with us um Columbus
council member lordis brosa DEA 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
lures 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 Wan Avenue where
eastmore High School is and live on
South counter 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 or Ohio
I'm giving myself a race Columbus um so
that's uh everything from the border of
Bexley down to noig speed down through
the South End to OBET and then up
through uh Driving Park on Livingston so
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
enforcement which I think is where
people think about a lot uh a Time 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 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 would 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 pestr 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 Columbia 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 and happens in White Hall 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 are 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
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 in 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 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 Beckley 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 those
dollars have been really well spent and
we're seeing them pay back and 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