The staff of GAI’s Community Solutions Group (Pete Sechler and Blake Drury) worked with neighborhood leaders, City officials, and other stakeholders on new approaches for livable transportation in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Upper Arlington is a first-ring suburb of Columbus, Ohio, developed originally as a 1920’s trolley community, and incrementally expanded over the course of the 20th century. While Upper Arlington remains a community of choice, due to growth and change in certain commercial corridors, the area is beginning to experience negative traffic impacts that are adversely affecting the neighborhoods.

Our staff provided a new model of City-wide mobility and community form, and then translated the approach into several site-specific design solutions in several locations around the city, many of which have now been implemented. Each “test site” involved direct interaction and field design with residents in order to ensure community ownership of the ideas. Traffic calming concepts were field-located and tested by both residents and life-safety vehicles.

In addition/particular, our team assisted with a contentious area of the Lane Avenue Commercial Corridor—incorporating a road diet, on-street parking, urban form standards for a proposed new, mixed-use development (which has now occurred), and traffic calming to buffer impacts to adjacent neighborhoods. Our GAI Community Solutions Group staff remains active through additional city, community, and development facilitation on the Lane Avenue Corridor, which continues to see new economic investment as a result of prior success.