The main street in Upper Arlington, Ohio – Tremont Road – connects to a library, elementary school, and park, plus many residences and businesses. With pavement, curb, and sidewalks that are in poor condition and more than 50 years old, the City of Upper Arlington selected B&N to design a new and improved Tremont Road that is an inviting, multi-modal corridor for this Columbus suburb.
The project was intended to enhance safety, improve the roadway and multiple intersections, provide better facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, improve connections to community resources, and enhance the streetscape and corridor aesthetics.
The project covered a two-mile stretch of Tremont Road, which is classified as a major collector road. As the lead firm, B&N provided:
- Traffic studies
- Funding assistance
- Preliminary and final design of roadway, bike, and pedestrian improvements
- Intersection studies, design of intersection reconfigurations and signal improvements
- Survey, right-of-way and utility coordination
- Lighting design and upgrades to LED fixtures
- Review of aesthetic enhancements
- Stakeholder involvement
- Bidding assistance
The project included two concepts for roadway improvements: a road diet design and complete streets enhancements.
Road Diet
After a thorough analysis, B&N determined that a portion of Tremont Road near a
major shopping center could benefit from a road diet design. Traffic studies indicated
that traffic would continue to flow smoothly after reducing the number of travel
lanes from four to two, with a center two-way left turn lane.
Reducing the number of lanes narrowed the roadway footprint making room for on-street bike lanes in each direction and a tree lawn between the roadway and the widened sidewalks, all within the existing right-of-way. The enhancements provide better access for pedestrians and bicyclists to the shopping center from the surrounding neighborhoods.
Complete Streets
The design of Tremont Road included complete streets enhancements, such as new
bike lanes, multi-use paths or sharrows, crosswalks with specialty pavers at signalized
intersections, several mid-block crosswalks to highlight pedestrian crossings, and
wider sidewalks for overall improved pedestrian access. Through the main stretch
of Tremont Road, a tree lawn was added between the curb and sidewalk to provide
a buffer between vehicles and pedestrians and improve street aesthetics.
The Tremont Road improvements were completed ahead of schedule in 2016. B&N collaborated with MKSK, planner for the initial corridor study and landscape architect for the project.
Awards
In 2016, this project received the Innovative Transportation Solutions Award from the Columbus chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS). The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Ohio presented the project with an Honor Award in the 2017 Engineering Excellence Awards.