Valet prices are out of control. Want more Short North visitors? Start with parking.
Columbus has ignored dangers on Sinclair Road for decades
The Feb. 7 Dispatch article “Cyclists: Sidewalk bike ban is dangerous" is but one example of the city of Columbus' decades-long record of neglect, mismanagement and public endangerment on Sinclair Road.
At the City Council meeting on Feb. 6, the interim Public Services Director stated that the major public improvement project for Sinclair Road “probably should have been a shared-use path on one side of the road." Why did the council then approve the $4.2-million project to do it with sidewalks only? Why was this project not done concurrently with all of the utility and road work done — which had Sinclair Road closed in one direction for a year — for the new “major apartment complex?" Why was the new complex approved with no sidewalk construction?
Further north on Sinclair Road (the residential portion), the drainage ditches should have been removed decades ago and a shared-use path installed. Meanwhile, COTA was allowed to add several new bus stops where there is literally no space for a bus stop. Riders waiting for the buses are expected to stand in the road or the ditch. Sinclair Road is extremely unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists, and their numbers are growing. Will it take more fatalities to prompt the city to do the right thing?
Mark Payne, Columbus
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Cheaper parking needed in Short North, Downtown
Regarding the Feb. 8 Dispatch article "Why do fewer people visit the Short North?," the answer for me is there is no convenient, cheap parking in the area. I refuse to pay bandit valet parking prices, and there are no meters in the area — only those stupid kiosks where you have to use a cellphone to pay. I only go to downtown Columbus on Sundays for the same reason.
The two or three times a year I visit the Short North, it is on a Sunday where I park for free at a lot at East 2nd or 3rd avenue and North High Street. I then walk from there to wherever I want to go. On the rare occasions that I go Downtown on a weekday, I park for free in Franklinton near Route 315 and again, walk to where I am going. I am saving money and getting some exercise as well.
If the city really wants people to start going to the Short North, and Downtown as well, they need to provide cheap, convenient parking for visitors, and reinstall meters.
In October 2023, I visited Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and was very pleased to discover that the rate to park in their campus parking garage was only $1 per hour. That is very reasonable, and I didn't mind paying that. I don't visit Ohio State University is because of the high parking rates.
Joe Koldys, Columbus
The Lewis Center I knew is long gone. Is this the price we pay for progress?
Solar farm would take away prime Madison County farmland
I am writing about USA TODAY national correspondent Elizabeth Weise's story published Feb. 7 in The Dispatch, "Misinformation on green energy common".
Weise is not directly affected by the proposed Oak Run solar farm that will cover at least 4,000 acres with solar panels to produce 800 megawatts of power. We in Madison County will actually be affected by its presence if it is allowed to proceed.
All the reasons you brought up are legitimate reasons to worry about its presence. The land this proposed project will occupy is some of the most fertile land in Madison County. After a 35-year use as a solar farm it will no longer be fertile — it will be used up, messed up, and worn out. It is a beautiful piece of prime Ohio farmland. It is also in the Little Darby Creek watershed, which is designated as a scenic waterway.
Jean King, London
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Want more Short North visitors? Put in cheap, easy parking first
