Downtown Columbus gets small stretch of new protected bike lane

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Starting Wednesday, Columbus cyclists will have another small stretch of dedicated bike infrastructure to traverse. 

Neon-clad Columbus public service workers braved rain showers Tuesday to finish installing a protected bike lane pilot, which runs under a mile down East Long Street in Downtown Columbus from its intersections with North 11th to Grant Street. 

The bike lane’s inner border now alternates between plastic vertical delineator posts and concrete blocks -- physically separating cars from bikes -- instead of just being denoted with white paint as the lane was previously and as most are throughout the city. 

The Columbus Department of Public Service will use the project to test what materials and configurations make sense for protected bike lanes, as city leaders seek to build more. Columbus City Council voted for the second phase of a pedestrian and bike safety action plan called Vision Zero on Monday, and it includes a proposal for 25 miles of protected bike lanes.

“The road is built for all people. The road is not just for cars, and for a long time our philosophy was that it was for cars were first,” Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla said. “We're trying to really put people, and safety, first.”

The greater Columbus area’s first -- and only -- bike lane physically divided from car traffic opened in late 2015 on Summit Street. Downtown did not have any protected bike lanes prior to the construction of the East Long Street one this week. Barroso de Padilla said Vision Zero will change that. 

Some policies might also require a culture change, she said.

“Going slower, protected bike lanes, yielding to people, that's putting people first,” Barroso de Padilla said. “Does that mean it might take you five minutes, 10 minutes longer to get where you're going? That could be a side effect.”

In late May, two Columbus cyclists were attacked by drivers within days of each other -- one of them left bedridden by a driver later arrested for felony assault.