Upper Arlington is re-envisioning 'outdated' Henderson Road, its border with Columbus
"Outdated," "hectic," "old," "dangerous" and "janky."
That's some of what Upper Arlington residents said when asked at a virtual meeting last month about their impression of the West Henderson Road corridor. The wide road forms the northern border between Upper Arlington and the city of Columbus and is marked by underperforming retail and large parking lots. While Upper Arlington only owns the southern half of the road, city officials say Henderson is the last major business district within Upper Arlington with potential for significant change.
That's why Upper Arlington has launched Envision Henderson to plan what comes next and encourage development based on feedback from residents of both Upper Arlington and Columbus, according to Upper Arlington City Manager Steve Schoeny.
"The good news is nobody likes Henderson Road the way it is right now," Schoeny told The Dispatch. "That is something that says OK there’s a consensus around a need for change. The hard part is getting consensus around what that looks like and coming up with a vision that’s commercially viable."
City governments don't build businesses or apartments, Schoeny pointed out. Developers do. Cities can create codes that reflect what they want in an area, making it easier for developers to build a project without needing a code variance.
The city is almost done with its first round of community engagement, including meetings and community pop-ups at local events. Next, MKSK Studios, a local planning firm, will take residents' feedback and put together a plan.
Then, there will be another round of community feedback so residents can react to that plan. Schoeny said they hope to have something to show residents by early July. The city hopes to implement a plan by the end of this year, Schoeny said.
Kyle May, the Envision Henderson project manager for MKSKS Studios, said there is data behind residents' concerns about the corridor as it is. The area has a lot of retail but compared to similar stores, more than 70% of the businesses have visitor counts below the 50th percentile, May said.
A lot of people have said the corridor is unsafe. May said their research shows there is a high number of crashes on the road and in surrounding parking lots.
"There are 38 curb cuts on the corridor which is a curb cut about every hundred feet. You don't have to be a roadway engineer to know that's not how you're supposed to do that," May said. "On top of that, we've got four travel lanes and a turn lane down the center with no median. I use the term raceway. It's kind of a Talladega feel, honestly, through here."
The area is particularly ripe for opportunities, Schoeny said, because if voters approve funding in November, the Central Ohio Transit Authority's LinkUS project could bring a bus rapid transit line less than a mile away to Bethel Road. Plus, the city of Columbus is proposing as part of its Zone-In plan to rezone much of its side of West Henderson to allow the possibility for taller development, that could include housing.
More development news: Crowd praises, attacks new zoning code proposal at Columbus City Council hearing
Kat Cochrane-Yamaguchi, who is involved in housing policy advocacy with Building Welcoming Communities, a committee under the local group Equal UA, said right now her group is just encouraging people to engage with the planning process.
Cochrane-Yamaguchi said she'd personally like to see the corridor contribute to the city's vibrancy with mixed-use development, walkability, green space, small businesses and affordable housing. But she's not sure what that looks like.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Envision Henderson: City of Upper Arlington to fix Henderson Road
