The Vision Principles of the Bridge Street Corridor Vision Plan address District objectives by emphasizing or accommodating transportation by several means other than cars, such as walking, biking, and the potential for future transit options. While Dublin has an extensive shared-use path network, the Vision Principles represent a distinct change in course for Dublin and the Bridge Street District in particular, and new means and methods of development are necessary to realize the walkable environment anticipated by the Vision Principles.
To complete the transportation analysis for the Bridge Street District, several multi-disciplinary workshops were held involving consultants, City staff, and the community to understand the ways that transportation planning for mixed-use urban environments differs from suburban environments with greater separation of land uses. To drive home the point, an entirely new set of typical street sections were designed that reflect the walkable, mixed-use, urban context as depicted in the Bridge Street District Vision Plan. The District street network was also redrawn to specify key street connections to unify the area, provide multiple transportation options, form a gridded street network to distribute traffic, and substantially enhance pedestrian and bicycle connections.
Street Pattern
Simply providing a grid is not enough. Block sizes must be small enough to create frequent intersections; streets cannot be too wide or cater solely to traffic; and the grid should be adapted to local context to balance travel demands and create an inviting environment. Key elements include:
- Post Road at Bridge Street – The regional demand from the I-270 exit will continue to exist at the Bridge Street/Post Road intersection, but when funneled through multiple intersections, drivers will have more choices and thus flatten the impacts across redundant roads.
- Interrupted streets – Potentially long roadways have been strategically “interrupted” to slow travel, and also create placemaking sites.
- A new multi-modal street system – While Bridge Street itself will be adapted over time to be more multi-modal, new parallel roadways will serve as the pedestrian-friendly front door to a range of business, residential, commercial, and open space uses; and as part of the interconnected bicycle network running through the Bridge Street District.
Block Sizes
Just as creating multiple, repeating connections provides added vehicular carrying capacity, shorter blocks with multiple connections foster pedestrian activity. The varied land uses, ground level retail, open space network, and frequent intersections, all serve to slow down travel and create an environment conducive to walking. Alleys of various character break up the larger block lengths, providing access completely through a block, or only to an interior parking facility or open space.
Street Families
The streets in the Bridge Street District were also not initially classified using the traditional traffic engineering “functional class” system. Instead, the entire Bridge Street District network of streets constitute special “families” of streets. The street families include Corridor Connectors, District Connectors, Neighborhood Streets and Alleys/Service Streets. Refer to the Transportation Chapter for more information about these Street Families.
Scioto River Crossings
The plan recommends a new multi-modal bridge crossing between Bridge Street and the I-270 overpass as well as a signature pedestrian bridge linking the new riverside park to Historic Dublin. The Scioto River creates an enormous barrier of more than 3,000 feet between its existing bridges, splitting the east and west portions of the Bridge Street District. The new bridges will add sufficient biking, walking and transit choices along streets and greenways that collectively “provides alternate routes and creates new sites for high-value walkable development” (as stated in the Bridge Street Corridor Vision Plan). The new bridge will also provide options for looping transit and walking and biking around the Corridor.
Multi-Modal and Non-Motorized Travel
While there are certainly traffic benefits of the additional connections, the benefits are most evident from a multi-modal perspective. The additional bridge connection allows for induced crossing demands for bicyclists and pedestrians and enhance the potential for development of blocks along the River. In addition, the proposed bridge affords an excellent alignment for transit to serve the entire Bridge Street District. As with transit, the added bridge would create focal points for the planned pedestrian and bicycle networks and allow the networks to penetrate back further into the Bridge Street District, creating a rich and robust non-motorized environment. The primary bike network is composed of cycletracks and the secondary bike network essentially includes every other street and some bicycle trails along greenways and through parks. Refer to the Transportation Chapter for more information about bikeway and public transportation planning in Dublin.
