Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Design topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City staff proposes reconstructing Riverside Drive stone wall as part of shared‑use path and utility extensions
Summary
City engineers presented a plan to reconstruct failing sections of a stone wall along Riverside Drive while building a shared‑use path and extending water and sanitary sewer. Staff said the wall was largely rebuilt in the 1940s (outside the board’s era of historic significance), and proposed a traditional dry‑laid wall that reuses sound stone and preserves columns where feasible.
City engineers told the Dublin City Architectural Review Board that a reconstruction of sections of the Riverside Drive stone wall is proposed as part of the Riverside Drive Utility and Shared‑Use Path Extension (Area 3). Josh Miller, an engineer in the Capital Projects Division, said the project combines a quarter‑mile shared‑use path with public water and sanitary sewer extensions under the city’s Utility Extension Policy.
Miller said a 2017 Historic and Cultural Assessment and field surveys indicate the existing wall was reconstructed by Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) during a 1940s widening and therefore falls outside the board’s established era of significance (1820–1930). He described a condition survey that flags segments as collapsed, deteriorated, modified by homeowners, or in good condition, and he showed proposed alignment changes to accommodate utilities and a safety barrier for the path. “So to accommodate this, we are proposing to reconstruct the wall using a traditional dry laid stone section,” Miller said.
Staff explained the technical constraints driving the design: the existing wall often overlaps the city right of way, the team expects to need a typical 10‑foot right‑of‑way take in some places, and Riverside Drive sits on bedrock that limits how deep utility lines can be placed. For locations where the stone is sound, engineers said they plan to reincorporate weathered original stone in non–load‑bearing, aesthetic applications rather than as structural elements. Miller described proposed wall heights that vary to match existing conditions—roughly 30–36 inches in the southern stretch and 12–18 inches farther north—and said columns at driveways will be preserved where feasible and reconstructed elsewhere.
Board members asked about ownership and work in places where the wall has been modified onto private property, preservation and potential artistic details for columns, and construction costs. Miller told the board that most of the wall sits in the right of way and that taller reconstructed sections are substantially more expensive; in the transcript he gave a verbal estimate for taller portions (reported as “300, 3 50 foot”). Board members and staff discussed coordinating with the Dublin Arts Council or other local artists to incorporate decorative elements into newly constructed columns where appropriate.
The board expressed general support for preserving existing columns where feasible, varying wall heights to reflect historic character, and exploring limited plantings (ornamental grasses) at selected locations to frame the wall and avoid future utility conflicts. The project will proceed to typical public‑improvement plan and bidding steps; staff said final design will continue to attempt to retain salvageable original stone where practical.
