The West Lane Avenue widening project is in the early stages of design, and construction will begin in 2001, said Mark Richard, project manager for Columbus.Five lanes will run from High Street to Olentangy River Road and a new bridge will replace the existing one, Richard said. The change will allow left turns in all directions at Lane Avenue and High Street.According to a traffic study commissioned by Franklin County, the bridge will need to be six lanes, said Mark Sherman, Franklin County bridge engineer.Neither Richard nor Sherman could give an estimate for the cost of the work and they didn’t know who would be contracted to do the work.”We are open for bids,” Sherman said.A public meeting to discuss plans for the bridge construction is scheduled for late March, Sherman said. They want to get the public’s input on the plans.Three business sites will be eliminated, he said. The Bike Source, The Sahara Restaurant, and The Jailhouse will have to relocate if they want to continue business.Jean Hansford, a senior campus planner, said it’s rare for widening to occur in a dense area without businesses being eliminated. In this case few businesses have been taken, said Hansford, a member of the University District Organization, an organization designed to improve the quality of life around the campus area.”It’s not as bad as it could be,” he said.Since most of the widening will occur on the Ohio State side of Lane Avenue, and Lane Avenue is widely used by visitors exiting Route 315 to tour the university, the university has some concerns, Hansford said.”We know we will lose some parking in the (St. John) arena lot,” he said. The parking lot will have to be realigned and the amount of available space will have to be maximized.”We also want to make sure it looks good,” Hansford said. “It should be tree-lined and attractive, nicely landscaped.”But aesthetics and parking space aren’t the only concerns, he said.”It’s by the Schottenstein Center where there will be a lot of pedestrian traffic,” he said. “There will need to be safe walkways. We don’t want people getting hit.”Although Rob Cohen, manager of Conrad’s, 316 W. Lane Ave., does not object to the widening, he is also concerned about pedestrian and driver safety.”I wish they would put a traffic light by us,” Cohen said. Although Sherman couldn’t give an exact date for the public meeting concerning bridge work, he said it will be in March, and will probably be at the Holiday Inn on Lane Avenue.