Inquirer: New problems surfacing with 11th Street closing

Concerned downtown readers, frustrated by the city having to close 11th Street at Broadway to make sewer repairs, had better get used to it. While it might get a little better soon, workers have found a new subterranean problem near the one they just repaired.

The good news is that they may be able to open one lane on 11th between Broadway and First Avenue soon. But they won't know for sure until they can fully assess the new problem, said Donna Newman, director of engineering for the city.

We've got some utilities we're trying to identify and trying to figure out if they're active or not," Newman said. "Once we get that information, we'll know what our plan of action will be. We want to look at an alternative if at all possible that will allow us to open up part of it, but that depends on what we have to do to make the repair."

One problem is that parts of the city's downtown sewer system are practically prehistoric, and some of the earlier repairs workers have discovered were apparently performed before there was such a thing as codes.

But that's hardly unique to Columbus. If a city is old, it's got old stuff that needs repairing or replacing. It's just like a person. The older you get, the more plumbing problems you have.

And now for the really good news. Once they get things buttoned up on 11th between Broadway and First, they're going to move west one block and tear up 11th between Front Avenue and Broadway. If there is good news, it's that the city is going to hold

off until after the holidays. (I can say holidays because I don't live in Harris County.)

"We're going to wait until January to start that, at the request of Uptown (Columbus) and the business owners and residents in that area," Newman said.

Speaking of Uptown Columbus, its CEO, Richard Bishop, said most downtown residents and business owners understand that such repairs are inevitable and necessary. But he does hear some griping about the traffic jams, especially at lunch and at the end of the business day.

Bishop recommends that, if at all possible, you should exit downtown on Ninth Street instead of 13th or 14th.

Of course, things would be much better if the city had 10th Street switched over to two-way traffic, which is in the works, but not going to happen soon enough to make any difference in the current 11th Street issues. Newman said the preliminary work has been done on that, but the city is waiting on the state Department of Transportation permits to put in left-turn lanes and signals on Veterans Parkway, which is a state road.

It's always something, isn't it?

"It is around here," Newman said.

Seen something that needs attention? Contact me at 706-571-8570 or mowen@ledger-enquirer.com.

This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Inquirer: New problems surfacing with 11th Street closing ."