The city told council Tuesday that the Zollinger Road corridor project — a pavement and safety improvement project planned for 2027 construction — will emphasize safety, pedestrian crossings and localized design responses after large turnout at recent outreach events.

City Engineer Scott briefed the Upper Arlington City Council on public outreach and next steps for Zollinger Road, saying the engagement began with an open house and an online board to gather resident suggestions. "We went into this community open house with kind of a blank slate," Scott said, describing the July 10 session and online comments as the starting point for alternatives development.

The nut graf: staff reported a construction estimate of about $4.8 million with roughly $3.3 million already awarded in grant funding, and they said community feedback overwhelmingly emphasized improved safety, concerns about dangerous driving, and a desire for a better pedestrian experience — particularly improved crosswalks and sidewalk quality.

Scott said the July 10 open house at the community center drew more than 70 in‑person attendees and produced about 253 board comments and 62 exit surveys; an associated online board recorded roughly 134 unique visitors and 406 comments. City staff summarized feedback by corridor segment — the high‑school area to the east, the central Kingsdale commercial area, and the western section — and found similar priorities across sections: safety improvements, addressing speeding and collisions, and improving the pedestrian crossing experience.

Scott and staff pointed to several recurring, location‑specific issues. Near the high school, attendees asked for better school‑traffic management; near Kingsdale and the central commercial area, residents flagged conflicts between pedestrian crossings and vehicle circulation; at the western end near the Keough/Zollinger intersection, many suggested reconfigurations including roundabouts to address a sharp S‑curve and improve safety.

Councilmembers pressed staff on outreach methods and next steps. Councilmember Adams asked whether engagement had accounted for demographic differences across the corridor and whether staff tailored communication by neighborhood age profiles. Scott said staff mailed a flyer to properties bordering the corridor and used social media and website postings, but did not conduct age‑targeted outreach; he said the aim was to reach both directly affected households and corridor users.

In answer to a question about sidewalks, Scott said sidewalks exist on both sides of Zollinger Road for the project length, but residents frequently commented about sidewalk quality — he noted that sidewalk maintenance is partly a resident responsibility under city code and that the city’s annual sidewalk maintenance program rotates through different areas over multiple years.

On sequencing and design, Scott said staff will work with the design team to craft multiple alternatives that recognize the corridor’s different characters rather than a single cross section across the full length. The alternatives will be presented for public feedback in the first quarter of 2026; detailed design is planned through 2026 with final plans and public presentations in early 2027 ahead of construction.

Councilmember Bakulowitz asked whether construction on Zollinger in 2027 would conflict with a major Lane Avenue project at the same time; Scott said Zollinger carries less traffic than Lane Avenue and that the typically less intensive "mill and overlay" construction planned for Zollinger should preserve reasonable traffic flow. Staff also discussed construction traffic routing and potential temporary changes to Arlington Center Boulevard to reduce local disruption during construction.

Scott said the city would evaluate alternatives such as road diets, mid‑block crossings with enhanced visibility, signal changes, and intersection reconfiguration where appropriate. Staff emphasized the intent to preserve reasonable traffic flow while addressing safety and pedestrian connectivity along the corridor.

Next steps: develop alternatives with the design team (EMH&T and MKSK), return to the public in Q1 2026 for feedback on feasible options, finalize designs through 2026 and present final plans to council in early 2027 before construction. "These three corridors do not need to look the same," Scott said; the city will develop context‑sensitive solutions for each segment.