BUCYRUS — The Bucyrus City Council Health and Safety Committee heard from a concerned citizen on the idea of installing bicycle lanes on both sides of North Sandusky Avenue.
The installation would cause there to be no parking from Perry Street north to the U.S. 30 bypass ramps.
The bike lanes are the way chosen by the city to meet the requirement for a grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation worth more than $1 million to cover much of the costs of repaving North Sandusky Avenue.
Bucyrus resident Lisa Alsept, who lives on North Sandusky Avenue voiced her opinion against the proposed bike lanes and elimination of street parking in the area.
She said she has lived on North Sandusky Avenue for 13 years, and many people do not have alternative parking options for their residences or need the parking if they have more than one family vehicle.
Safety also was a concern for Alsept, citing five crashes which have occurred in the area, one of which was fatal.
She said she was concerned with the amount of traffic on the road, including semi-truck traffic going to the industrial park and added lake traffic in the summer.
Health and Safety Committee Chairman Kevin Myers said he learned a lot about the project in the previous few days, including seeing the application for the ODOT grant for the first time Thursday. He also said he learned the plans were completed in February 2016.
Myers said he put letters on the residences believed to be affected after Tuesday’s council meeting in an attempt receive feedback before Thursday’s committee meetings. He said he received six responses, with them being approximately split 50/50 on the issue.
When asked if the plans had to include the bike lines, Mayor Jeff Reser said the ODOT application requires plans for an 18-inch easement on both sides of the street and the bike lanes was how city administrators chose to meet that requirement. He said alternatives to include the parking would be expanding the street, which would include moving street poles, sidewalks and curbs at the city’s expense, or narrowing the street’s right-of-way lanes.
Alsept said she would give up 18 inches of property if it meant keeping her parking but said she could not speak for her neighbors.
Councilman Doug Foght entered the conversation by referencing an email by the engineer who made the plans and said the only reason cited for having the bike lanes was to meet the ODOT requirements for the grant.
In response to Alsept saying residents on the other side of North Sandusky Avenue have an alley to gain access to their properties, Reser asked if there was a way to add an alley behind the residences on the west side of the street. Law Director Rob Ratliff said he could find out the possibility.
Councilman Mark Makeever said he did not feel he could make a decision until more information was available to the committee. The other committee members agreed.
Myers said ODOT still would be responsible for the road, but due to ODOT’s schedule, the project may be put off for additional years.
Councilman Andy Schoch said he was not happy with the lack of communication between all involved but was wary of losing the grant and not getting the road repaved. He said delaying repaving North Sandusky Avenue would be a real problem that needs taken care of.
“That’s a lot of money,” Schoch said.
Myers asked his fellow committee members if they could meet Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. to allow time to gather more information and feedback from residents but still be able to meet the Dec. 14 deadline.
Reser asked Myers why he thought more residents would attend to give an input.
“Isn’t that what tonight was for,” Reser asked. “One person came.”
Myers said he wanted to give everyone involved the chance.
The next meeting on the issue was set for Tuesday at 6 p.m.