Cannon Drive relocation project reaches halfway point

Zoe Botley
Thu, 19 Oct 2023 02:02:36 +0000
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Construction for the Cannon Drive Phase 2 flood levee will protect the Columbus Campus up to 500-years from flooding. Credit: Courtesy of Nicole Holman

The university is approaching the halfway point of the second phase of the Cannon Drive Relocation, with Ohio State constructing a certified flood protection levee.?

The project is expected to be finished by the end of 2024 and the new flood protection will provide up to 500 years of protection for Ohio State’s Columbus campus, according to Ohio State’s building the future webpage. Nicole Holman, assistant director of marketing and communications in the Office of Administration and Planning, said the project will rebuild the roadway between John Herrick and Woody Hayes drives in order to create the levee.?

“This work is really important to protect the university and its buildings,” Holman said in an email.??

The levee will provide better traffic flow, pedestrian and cyclist accessibility and long-term protection of the over 400 buildings the university holds, Holman said. A motivating factor was a flood that occurred at the University of Iowa in 2008.?

Iowa’s flood “caused $750 million worth of damage, ruined a quarter of the campus classrooms, and closed one-sixth of its total campus square footage,” Holman said.?

Due to the construction, upper and lower portions of the Olentangy Trail between Woody Hayes and John Herrick drives have been closed since May. The trail was rerouted around Ohio Stadium.

Harvey Miller, a professor in the Department of Geography and director of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis — who helped assist with the detour — said it will be temporary until late November.

“When they opened the detour, it was all in spring semester, so there was a gap between when they started construction and when they started when the detour was implemented,” Miller said.

Miller said that the Olentangy Trail is essential for many cyclist commuters who rely on it to get to campus.

“People use it as transportation. In fact, it’s the busiest bike trail in Ohio. It has hundreds of users every day because it’s situated through a major university,” Miller said. “It’s a very important artery for cyclists.”

Live updates on the Cannon Drive Phase Two and the Olentangy Trail detour map timeline can be found on Ohio State’s building the future webpage.