Congestion fi x seen as spur to growth
By the middle of November, four years of highway work is expected to come to a close with the completion of new Interstate 270 interchanges at Routes 23 and 315.
The “North Side Mega Fix” was needed to reduce heavy congestion caused by booming development.
Now that better traffic flow is on the way, what will this mean for development? Will the fix lead to more of the kind of development that required freeway improvements to begin with?
“It’s a general truism that if you build it, they will come,”
said Rachel Garshick Kleit, head of the city and regional planning section of Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture. “There probably will be more development in an area where you build greater transportation capacity.
“You increase capacity in response to there being more cars, then you’ll probably get more cars and be stuck in traffic again. That’s the way it works. ... You can never build your way out of a traffic jam. You need alternative options.”
Eric Hertz, president of the New York-based Center for Retail Real Estate, agrees.
“History shows that as you make outlying, exurban areas more accessible, development absolutely does follow,” Hertz said.
“Neighborhoods spring up with new housing that costs significantly less. ... You improve people’s lifestyles that way, but you increase congestion. The challenge is to plan and try to manage the growth.”
For commercial development, being on a major thoroughfare can be a plus. But if cars are flying by rather than moving slowly along surface streets, commuters may actually be more inclined to pass by businesses on their way to and from their home, Hertz said.
“As bypass freeways and expressways are built, businesses along the older route tend to languish,” Hertz said.
Certainly, some current projects will benefit from the easier access and reduced Looking Northwest across Interstate 270 at the Route 315 off-ramp construction on Thursday.
congestion that should come in the near term from the freeway work. Continental Real Estate Cos. recently bought and plans to overhaul the Olentangy Valley Centre just north of Interstate 270 on Route 315.
“We saw the value of the real estate,” said Andrew Montooth, director of investment services for Continental Realty. “The freeway work didn’t factor into it, but I think the improvements will do nothing but help. It will help people get to our site easier. It’s timed well.”
Montooth said they may rename the retail portion, slated to get a major facelift including a new roof and revamped patio area, for The Hills Market, its largest anchor. Two aging office buildings on the south side of the property will be razed
to make way for a fourstory, 100-unit senior living center, in partnership with Indianapolis-based Traditions Management.
The project awaits various approvals, and Montooth expects work to take 12 to 18 months once work begins.
On the Northeast Side, the 320-acre Hamilton Quarter project will benefit from improvements to the intersection of Route 161 and Hamilton Road, where it sits. It’s being developed by Casto, the Daimler Group and the New Albany Company.
Announced in March 2016, Hamilton Quarter as planned will eventually include a million square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; more than 700,000 square feet of office space; a hotel; hundreds of apartments; and a 130-unit senior
living facility.
Big Lots has announced it will move its headquarters from the West Side to the development early next year. Housing should begin opening in the spring, with the retail component to follow in 2019.
With the explosive growth in the New Albany area, the Hamilton/161 interchange had become a choke point. The developers worked with the city of Columbus on improvements that include connecting the Hamilton Road exit directly into Hamilton Road to the west. The project also reroutes part of Dublin-Granville Road to create a walkable boulevard featuring “Main Street-style restaurants and retail spaces,” the companies said in a statement.
Steve Schoeny, development director for Columbus, is quick to note that the city’s goal is not to create more of the urban sprawl sometimes blamed on the city.
“We don’t really look at roadwork as a developmentspurring tool these days,” he said. “That’s not where we’re going.”
Schoeny also points to work on Lazelle Road near the Polaris area as an example of roadwork “helping us manage growth” that’s already happened.
“We look at how the transportation system is working now, where has traffic moved to,” he said. “It’s more about choke-point management, not as much about creating a new interchange.”
Other fixes
On Nov. 1, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission is preparing to launch a new study of regional transportation corridors. Others involved include Columbus, the Central Ohio Transit Authority and the Columbus council of the Urban Land Institute. MORPC says the study aims to address changing demographics and increased demand for smaller homes in walkable “mixeduse environments.”
Cleveland Avenue is one corridor to be studied. It is slated to get a new “bus rapid transit” express line from COTA early next year between Downtown and Polaris Parkway/Africa Road. Safety and access to jobs and educational opportunities are among the goals. It’s also expected to aid businesses along the corridor, where there are a number of vacant storefronts.
“There are a lot of opportunities for infill development along the Cleveland corridor,” said Kerstin Carr, director of planning and environment for MORPC.
Other areas being studied will include Main Street from Downtown to Reynoldsburg; West Broad Street from Downtown to just outside Interstate 270; the northwest corridor from Downtown to Dublin along Route 315; and the Alum Creek corridor down to the Rickenbacker Airport area.
The yearlong study will examine how development opportunities can be encouraged with transportation and infrastructure investments, while promoting more of a “neighborhood feel” and encouraging walking, biking and bus service.