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Council Approves Mount Vernon Avenue Safety Upgrades, Including Separated Bike Lanes and Bus Islands
Summary
Council authorized easement agreements and construction preparations to install permanent safety improvements on Mount Vernon Avenue, including separated bike lanes, medians, curb extensions, bus islands and ADA sidewalk repairs.
Columbus City Council voted to authorize revocable encroachment easements that will allow permanent safety and multimodal infrastructure improvements along Mount Vernon Avenue, a Near East Side corridor the city has been redesigning as part of its Vision Zero initiative.
The first phase approved by council will add separated bike lanes, concrete medians to separate vehicle and bicycle traffic, curb extensions and sidewalk repairs to shorten pedestrian crossings, bus islands to improve transit boarding safety, and signal improvements. Assistant Director Young told council the corridor’s interim improvements installed in 2021 have been associated with a 91% decrease in total crashes at Mount Vernon and Champion avenues and zero fatal crashes since installation.
Funding and schedule: Council was told the project has secured $500,000 in Safe Routes to School funding and $3,000,000 in Ohio Department of Transportation safety funds for construction. The department indicated the project was expected to be advertised for construction in March 2026.
Why it matters: The corridor serves heavy pedestrian and event traffic near Mamie Moore Park and cultural institutions such as the King Arts Complex. Council members framed the work as both a safety and neighborhood-revitalization strategy; one member noted that reduced crashes and improved walkability can catalyze further economic investment in historically underserved neighborhoods.
Outcome: The ordinance granting easement authority and directing the public-service department to execute necessary documents passed by roll call during the meeting.
Next steps: The Department of Public Service will finalize easement documents and proceed toward bidding and construction-phase engineering; council will receive routine updates and the projects will move forward contingent on right-of-way coordination with ODOT and final contract awards.
