The widening of Lane Avenue was set to begin this summer, but delays in the acquisition of the property at Lane Avenue and High Street and the hiring of a contractor will push the construction schedule back until spring 2002.

According to Mark Richard, project manager for Lane Avenue, the contractor also needs to gain permission from OSU and determine reloction methods for the utilities on the street.

The city of Columbus and Franklin County Engineer’s office is responsible for the construction of Lane Avenue and although major construction will not begin for more than one year, plans are already being made.

“The Lane Avenue project will be completed in two phases, with bidding for the first phase being completed in June. The total cost of the project will be a minimum of $20 million,” Richard said.

The first phase of the project is the construction of the bridge over the Olentangy River. Richard said little observable construction will begin this year because the contractor still needs to be chosen and products need to be ordered.

Phase one will also include construction of a pedestrian crosswalk over the bridge so patrons can still visit the Schottenstein Center.

Mark Sherman, chief deputy of engineering, said the bridgework will begin in August but it will not be closed to traffic until the last home football game of 2002 as a result of wanting to accomodate as many people as possible while traffic is heaviest in the Lane Avenue area.

Sherman also said the Olentangy River should be cleaner after construction is completed.

“Right now we have a combined sewer where everything goes down to the river. We will be separating the sanitary and storm sewers so the sanitary sewer runs to the treatment plant, cleaning the river,” Sherman said.

Phase two is the actual widening of Lane Avenue to Tuller Street. Contractors will begin bidding on the project in November or December of this year said Richard.

“We hope to begin this in spring of 2002, and then the dirt will really start to fly,” Richard said.

There have been problems with the widening project at the intersection of Lane and High because of the necessary acquisition of buildings on the northwest side of the intersection.

Richard said they are negotiating with the landlord of the property and the target date of acquisition is August, but there have been difficulties finalizing a purchase amount.

After that is completed, work will soon begin to realign the intersection in hopes of decreasing accidents and driver confusion.

“People try to turn left onto Lane Avenue from northbound High Street but they can’t. After the construction, there will be left turn lanes which will help decongest traffic on High Street and allow better access to areas west of the Olentangy River,” Richard said.

At the same time Lane and High will be under construction, Richard said there are plans to fix sidewalks and curbs at Lane and Arcadia Avenue and Hudson and High Street.

The university is also planning to do work on the Woody Hayes bridge while the Lane Avenue bridge is also being worked on said Bernie Costantino, associate university architect.

While the Lane Avenue bridge will be closed to through traffic, the Woody Hayes bridge will not.

“We are trying to put it all into perspective and analyzing the impact of each (project),” Costantino said.

While the Lane Avenue construction will not officially begin for more than a year, Ohio State has planned to begin many projects this summer and autumn.

Costantino said the Knowlton School of Architecture will begin early autumn. Construction to the Life Sciences building on south campus will start in July to work on utility projects, but will officially begin on the building in September or October. Work on Sisson Hall on West Campus is an ongoing project, as is the Ohio Stadium project and roof replacements will officially begin on the Central Classroom building in June.

The university projects all have varying completion dates but the projected completion date of the Lane Avenue project is September 2003.