South State Street Revitalization Transforms and Improves City Gateway

Anyone driving along South State Street near the intersection of Huber Village Boulevard would be hard pressed to ignore the sweeping effort to improve the primary gateway into our community.

Though the area was once marked by aging infrastructure and outdated road configuration, the City has made the investment to revitalize it a top priority. The relocation of overhead utilities to underground, lane additions to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow, and wider sidewalks and bikeways are among the changes designed to improve the safety, accessibility and aesthetic appeal of the City’s most recognizable portal.

The endeavor to reform the South State Street corridor dates back more than 10 years, when the City commissioned the South State Street Corridor Study to provide direction for future decisions related to the corridor from I-270 to Walnut Street. The study identified traffic congestion, changing land uses, aging infrastructure and a lack of visual appeal as the primary problems along the corridor. Many of the issues brought forward by the study stemmed from the original development along South State Street, which was plagued by visually and functionally incompatible development decisions of individual property owners. The study’s findings served as the basis for the City’s revitalization effort.

“As the City has grown and evolved over the past several decades, so too have our infrastructure needs,” said City Engineer Susan Banbury. “As the gateway to our City, it was critical that South State Street be transformed to reflect how Westerville has changed and to incorporate those changes into the effort to redesign and redevelop the area.”

Some of the more eye-catching changes to the corridor include upgraded traffic signals with overhead mast arms, brick medians, brick and concrete sidewalks, new landscaping and trees, benches and other public amenities. Beneath the surface, underground utility improvements enhance the area’s utility safety and operation. The City’s revitalization project ties into the Ohio Department of Transportation’s safety upgrades at the I-270/South State Street (State Rt. 3) interchange.

The South State Street project cost approximately $7.5 million, with nearly $2 million provided by loans and grants from the Ohio Public Works Commission. Additional funds were made available when Westerville voters passed Issue 54 in 2008, an initiative that matched the income tax rate in Westerville to the prevailing 2 percent rate in central Ohio communities.

“Without the trust and support of our residents, the revitalization of the South State Street gateway would not have been possible,” said City Manager David Collinsworth. “By addressing our aging infrastructure and improving our main gateway into the City, we aim to ensure that our residents, businesses and visitors directly benefit from a more efficient, modern and visually appealing entrance into Westerville. “

Next year, the final touches of the streetscape improvements will continue with the addition of ornamental fencing and entry features, decorative street lighting, trees, and landscape beds along the corridor between I-270 and Huber Village Boulevard.

Overall satisfaction in the community remains strong, with residents recognizing value in services focused on public safety, land use and parks and recreation programming. Factors such as familyoriented lifestyle, housing choice, community safety, public services and environmentally responsible choices were among the highest-ranked responses from survey takers.

The City asked residents to rank the quality of infrastructure improvements. Nearly 70 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that there have been improvements in the last three years. Further, the South State Street corridor improvements have been noticeable and highly supported to almost all survey takers (93 percent).

“These are some of the signs we’re looking for in order to determine whether residents connect this work to promises the City made in 2008 with the income tax restructuring initiative,” said David Collinsworth, Westerville City Manager. “We recognized some major infrastructure improvements were needed to keep Westerville both vibrant and viable, and the realization of those plans is coming into focus for many in the community.”

Residents were also asked to rank issues (multiple choice) in terms of importance. New this year, the City asked for more than one response, providing residents an opportunity to list a first, second and third choice of “most important” issues.

Fiscal management and responsibility was again marked as the most important (also the first choice in 2009), followed by maintaining public safety services. Economic development and job creation, infrastructure and roadway maintenance,

This figure(Figure 1.11 in the report) presents mean ratings for several items regardingCity departments and staff. This scale ranged from 1.00 (Strongly Disagree) to4.00 (Strongly Agree).

“We have put a lot of effort into understanding how residents need and want to use technology and information from their local government,” said Collinsworth. “We use the principles of ‘easy to access’ and ‘responsive’ across the board, from phone calls and emails to new applications like mobile technologies. We expect to unveil even more this year to make the resident communication experience with the City easy and worthwhile.” and reliable and efficient utility services rounded out the top five priority issues among respondents.

Traffic issues and its maintenance were again marked as challenges in the community, coming up most often as what residents like least about living in Westerville. A little more than half of respondents also say traffic flows have not improved in the last three years.

While most (68%) residents believe the overall traffic flow on main streets is at least as good as traffic flows in other suburbs, a little more than one quarter of respondents disagree.

Residents do appear satisfied with traffic and roadway infrastructure in terms of the overall physical condition of the roadways in Westerville (28 percent strongly satisfied, 60 percent satisfied for a total of 88 percent overall satisfaction to 12 percent dissatisfaction). While most (72 percent) residents believe the overall traffic flow on main streets is at least as good as traffic flows in other suburbs, about onequarter of respondents disagree.

Other areas of community life with lower levels of satisfaction appear to be small and are associated with managing housing growth (16 percent dissatisfaction), managing retail and business growth (24 percent) and fostering a business-friendly environment (14 percent).

In evaluating the flow of information from the City, residents were again consistent in their choices. They continue to gain information from the suburban newspaper(s) as their top-rated source, although it is declining (56 percent versus 70 percent in 2009). A new City website, launched last November, saw gains in recognition, and was rated by the majority as visually interesting, easy to use and useful.

New this year, a section on Strategic Planning and Current Events was added to the survey. The questions were designed to provide specific feedback to issues and questions currently being considered as part of the City’s strategic planning process. The City last formally conducted strategic planning in 2002.

In this section, residents were asked to again rank issues of importance while factoring in the community’s aging population (Census 2010). Emergency services were rated highest, followed by convenient access to health care. Public transportation rated the lowest on the scale.

Other outcomes from the section indicated:

• Job creation and attracting new business were the key responses to how Westerville can and should retain young professionals.

• Maintaining municipal utility services was most important when respondents were asked about financial stewardship during an economic downturn.

• Residents view it as very important that the City purchase, develop and preserve available land for parks and open spaces.

• Interest in Uptown Westerville is high; residents want it to remain vibrant because most (nearly 96 percent) regularly visit, dine, shop or eat there.

Crime was most commonly cited as an issue that, if left unaddressed, would negatively impact life in Westerville. Traffic and too-high taxes followed as areas of potential concern.

Collinsworth said that the information revealed from the survey now goes to work in the development, maintenance and consideration of city services and programs. “We have another view of resident expectations, hopes and desires,” he said. “Council and City staff will now begin the work of plugging in this new information and forging ahead for an even stronger Westerville.”