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City Sets PLAN in motion to widen SR 256

Widening between Diley and Old Village

Pickerington OKs plan to widen part of Rt. 256
Friday, July 08, 2005
Kirk D . Richards
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



A portion of Rt. 256 south of Diley Road would be widened to five lanes within the next five years under a plan the Pickerington City Council has approved.

The plan is preliminary, said Councilman Ted Hackworth, who leads the city’s Service committee. Rt. 256 now has five lanes from I-70 to an area near Diley Road, where it becomes three lanes. Farther south, the road narrows to two lanes.

The plan calls for the five lanes to extend south to Conrail tracks, north of Columbus Street. No cost has been estimated.

However, Councilman Michael Sabatino said, "I wouldn’t read a lot into this piece of legislation because it’s just a planning tool."

Sabatino insisted that the plan be written so that residents retain the ability to challenge the project through a referendum in the future.

Last year, Sabatino supported residents who wanted to use a referendum to reverse the council majority’s decision to approve a project to widen Diley Road from two lanes to five.

But in January, the city denied the petition to put the issue on the ballot, because two legal consultants determined that the residents were targeting followup legislation that awarded contracts rather than the original plan for the project.

For Rt. 256, Hackworth said he would expect the city to seek funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation because it is a state route.

The new plan also calls for Courtwright Drive, an east-west connector to Rt. 256, to be extended through vacant land to Stemen Road.

"It’ll help drivers make better decisions rather than cutting through subdivisions, where you have kids playing outside, people backing out of driveways," Councilman Mitch O’Brien said yesterday.

To pull the plan off, Hackworth said the city must cooperate with Columbus and Violet Township.


krichards@dispatch.com

SR256 Widening

The Columbus Dispatch