$17.2M Fix for Congestion at Polaris Will Add More Lanes to Old State Road

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$17.2M Fix for Congestion at Polaris Will Add More Lanes to Old State Road

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Started 5 months ago by News
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News
Columbus Underground
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Engineers Work To Fix Congestion At Polaris Parkway Intersection
Tuesday December 13, 2011 3:01 PM

DELAWARE, Ohio - Delaware County Engineers have plans to improve traffic at the intersection of Old State Road and Polaris Parkway. Get the story. The proposal includes adding a lane in each direction, a grass median and a paved center turn lane at the intersection, 10TV's Karina Nova reported. According to engineers, the population of Delaware County is estimated to grow by 33 percent in the next 25 years.

READ MORE: http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2011/12/13/delaware-engineers-work-to-fix-traffic-congestion.html

Posted 5 months ago #
anillo
Marzipan City
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I was just thinking the other day about how Polaris needs some more roadage.

Posted 5 months ago #
jpizzow
580 N. Park St.
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I was thinking they needed a 14 lane Polaris bypass from 71 to 23. Would make things so much easier both times I accidentally drive through there every year. Hope they nix the sidewalks though. It would make it way too cluttered.

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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anillo said:
I was just thinking the other day about how Polaris needs some more roadage.

Hrm.

If the problem is "too much traffic", which some folks in that article are claiming, then building additional infrastructure to accommodate more cars isn't going to do anything but make the problem worse.

Posted 5 months ago #
columbusmike

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A grass median....I'm so excited!

Posted 5 months ago #
bman
New Albany
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I am confused, Delaware county is going to grow by 33% in the next 25 years but according to other threads on here EVERYONE is moving to the urban core and the suburbs are dying FAST.

I am confused.

FWIW, I drive down Old State from Orange Rd to Old Powell Rd every day and from that point down to POlaris is bumper to bumper if you are turning from N. Old State to Polaris. If I have to go that way to something on Polaris it is easier to go straight thru the intersection to South Old State and then beg for mercy from a north bond person on the south side to let you into the CVS parking lot and cut over to East bound Polaris.

Posted 5 months ago #
cheap
Westgate
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bman said:
I am confused, Delaware county is going to grow by 33% in the next 25 years but according to other threads on here EVERYONE is moving to the urban core and the suburbs are dying FAST.

I am confused.

downtown Delaware?

Posted 5 months ago #
melikecheese
Merion Village
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Don't be confused, one message boards feedback is too small of a sample size to make their opinions statistically relevant.

It is however odd that the living in the city is calmer then living in the burbs. Drove to Polaris last weekend, what a mess!

Mo lanes, Mo traffic!!

Posted 5 months ago #
laboettcher

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Yeah, I work at McGraw-Hill - Polaris, and I'm super-glad my hours are flexible, because I can cut down my commute time dramatically. Polaris traffic is insane.

For me, the problem is with the exits. There should be 2 exits at Polaris - one for Orion and one for Polaris. I think that would help a lot of the congestion on 71.

I'm relatively new to the area, but I think that Polaris is particularly poorly planned.

Posted 5 months ago #
surber17

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This is all i have to say about this idea:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/why-i-hate-polaris

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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bman said:
I am confused, Delaware county is going to grow by 33% in the next 25 years but according to other threads on here EVERYONE is moving to the urban core and the suburbs are dying FAST.

I am confused.

I believe both Delaware County and Franklin County are projected to continue to grow. There are urban and suburban areas in both counties, and municipal boundaries also cross back and forth into both counties.

Not really that confusing.

Posted 5 months ago #
bman
New Albany
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Walker said:
I believe both Delaware County and Franklin County are projected to continue to grow. There are urban and suburban areas in both counties, and municipal boundaries also cross back and forth into both counties.

Not really that confusing.

I will clear it up ... I was being sarcastic because if you read the pontifical diatribes on her the suburbs are DEAD and decaying but this growth is happening in mega suburbia which contradicts the urban pontificators on here.

Posted 5 months ago #
Urban Dansigner
Downtown
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The people want the new. New is always better and there are less people around, except when it is not so. They only notice that it really sucks when everyone else follows them and now the place that they left and the place that they are now both suck. Glad I live in a relatively stable area where people care for what they have and what is around them, would I like some of the the new ... sure but not a whole lot.

Also, my community has a wonderful grid system of streets and everyone is not funneled on to one street to get around. In ten years or less people will become bored of Polaris and find a new greenfield on which to build the perfect retail and commerce center and yes if they have not learned the mistakes of the past it will suck also...

Posted 5 months ago #
Urban Dansigner
Downtown
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laboettcher said:
Yeah, I work at McGraw-Hill - Polaris, and I'm super-glad my hours are flexible, because I can cut down my commute time dramatically. Polaris traffic is insane.

For me, the problem is with the exits. There should be 2 exits at Polaris - one for Orion and one for Polaris. I think that would help a lot of the congestion on 71.

I'm relatively new to the area, but I think that Polaris is particularly poorly planned.

No my son, it is perfectly planned by the private interests that profit from the retail and office spaces. Every corporate entity can plug in their prototypical store with the greatest of ease and maximum gain, and you will stand in traffic just for their pleasure.

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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bman said:
I will clear it up ... I was being sarcastic because if you read the pontifical diatribes on her the suburbs are DEAD and decaying but this growth is happening in mega suburbia which contradicts the urban pontificators on here.

I can only speak for myself, but I think that the ongoing discussion about sustainable land development is a look at overall national trends. There will always be exclusions from those trends and outliers that don't follow the norm. That goes for both ends of the spectrum.

An influx of new residents into an area over the next quarter century doesn't really say anything one way or another about how land development patterns will evolve or accommodate those people, so any contradiction to national trends is just speculation on your part, and open for discussion.

Posted 5 months ago #
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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laboettcher said:
I'm relatively new to the area, but I think that Polaris is particularly poorly planned.

I think that's an understatement.

Posted 5 months ago #
clancy12

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Yes, widening roads always relieves congestion. Perfect.

Posted 5 months ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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clancy12 said:
Yes, widening roads always relieves congestion. Perfect.

In this case, it probably will. There is a difference between taking a 4-lane highway to 6-lane (which often does nothing for congestion) and altering an intersection with turn lanes and better traffic control.

I always think of Polaris as an archetype of poor traffic planning considering that they started with literally nothing there.

Did anyone else notice that this project won't even start for almost 5 yrs?

A.

Posted 5 months ago #
cheap
Westgate
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they need some roundabouts right on polaris

driving through those doing 50 should be a blast.

Posted 5 months ago #
NerosNeptune
Goodale Park
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Andrew Hall said:

Did anyone else notice that this project won't even start for almost 5 yrs?

Everyone may have moved on to Sunbury by then

Posted 5 months ago #