Imagine a more elaborate, sophisticated bridge with stone steps leading to bike paths and cables helping to hold it up across the Olentangy River on Lane Avenue.
Then, picture driving down Lane Avenue, with two lanes running east and west and easier traffic. Is it too good to be true?
Franklin County is planning to build a bridge that fits that exact image, and the city of Columbus is working on widening Lane Avenue, said Jean Hansford, senior campus planner.
The county received two licenses for land from Ohio State through the Ohio Revised Code section 3345.18, said Wendy Patton, the real estate coordinator at OSU. The resolution for the granting of the licenses was passed Aug. 29.
One is a perpetual license; the other is about a 30-month temporary license for the construction around the bridge, she said. The land given is adjacent to the present-day Lane Avenue bridge.
Each license provides almost two acres of land, which gives a total cost of about $200,000, Patton added.
According to a resolution by the OSU Board of Trustees instead of cash payment, “the university will receive for an equal or greater value, improvements to the bridge and the surrounding areas.”
Patton said that the enhancements include stone steps to the west and east side of the bridge that lead to a bike path. The city is paying for one end of the stone steps and OSU is paying for the other.
The Cancer Survivor Plaza will also receive enhancements, such as wider sidewalks and entryways, to help the plaza fit in with the rest of the site’s additions, she said.
Both electrical and communications conduits are also a part of the contract, Patton said.
“Conduits are pipes that are built in the infrastructure of the bridge,” said Jamie Lambert, the outside plant manager at OSU. “They allow you to get cables for communication across the river.”
OSU will receive greater communication services because of the conduits.
West campus will have more communication capabilities, said Lambert. There will also be access to conduits for future use. The bridge that will be built is very unique because it is a cable-stay bridge, like the Brooklyn Bridge, Hansford said.
Unlike other suspension bridges, where the cables descend down from another cable line, a cable-stay bridge is sturdier, Hansford added.
“It will have two towers that go up high with cables descending down to hold up the bridge,” he said. “It has a very strong safety factor.”
Hansford is hoping that construction on the bridge will begin in Spring 2002. At the moment, drawings are being finalized and the enhancements are still being negotiated.
A temporary pedestrian bridge will be built as part of the deal, said Laura Shinn, a senior campus planner.
By the time contractors get a chance to bid on the project, and an offer is accepted, winter will be around the corner, Hansford said. Construction can’t begin during the winter.
