A north Columbus street will soon become a one-way street following approval from the Columbus City Council last week.
Parts of 11th Avenue, from Military Road to 10th Avenue, will become one-way due to safety concerns.
The council approved the request from City Engineer Kevin Stafford during its Aug. 21 meeting.
“Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem had been approached by some his constituents about the street being too narrow between Military Road and 10th Avenue,” Stafford said. “It’s odd that it bends around into an avenue but it’s forced to do that because of the railroad tracks.”
Points on the street are as narrow as 11 feet, which Stafford said isn’t conducive to two-way traffic.
“Right now it’s set up for two-way traffic but it needs to be a one-way street,” said Stafford.
Karriem said he appreciates the city’s support on making the street safer.
“I have been getting a lot of complaints about the narrow street being unsafe for two-way traffic,” Karriem said. “It’s really hard to have two cars on the road.”
With unanimous council approval, Stafford said the next move is to get consensus from residents about which direction the street should go.
“Right now, the majority is leaning toward the street to run west,” Stafford said. “We still have a few residents left to talk to before we make a decision.”
Karriem had no preference on which way traffic should flow.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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