Richard Hyatt: Finally, the Moon Road project is almost complete

When workers started ripping and tearing on Moon Road, dinosaurs romped in the pond at North Highland Church, and J.R. Allen was a politician rather than a limited-access highway.

Or so it seems as we impatiently sit in the afternoon traffic on a venerable old road that for a couple of years has resembled a war zone.

Rick Jones, planning director for the Columbus Consolidated Government, says that part of Moon Road that stretches from Piggly Wiggly to CVS is about to emerge as a three-lane road with turn lanes and sidewalks.

“We’ll be ready to ride by November of this year,” Jones said, ending a project with a colorful history.

Jones said it began with Sgt. Jim Rhodes, an Army veteran who used to pick out his favorite ball cap and go to Columbus Council meetings every Tuesday morning.

Rhodes lives nearby, so mostly he railed about problems along Moon Road. Sometimes it was too noisy and sometimes there was too much traffic.

Tired of listening, officials finally acted.

“We had a number of public hearings and there were three choices: Make it a four-lane. Make it three lanes. Or do nothing at all,” Jones said.

Without a consensus, the issue went to council, which chose the three-lane option. Drivers who use that road know what a mess it has been since work began. People along Moon Road have shed tears as they watched their front yards shrink.

“We worked with folks,” Jones said. “No one was displaced, but right-of-way issues are always difficult.”

As the project nears completion, Jones is proud of the sidewalks that have been installed. They will be useful to people on foot or riding a bicycle, he said.

When someone mentioned there was never much foot traffic out there, Jones had a ready reply. “Nobody walked. Well, maybe they didn’t feel safe.”

The project was costly and lives were disrupted. Laymen look at the new and improved Moon Road and wonder if it will be worth all the teeth gnashing. Will three lanes solve the traffic situation, and did we endure this upheaval just to get sidewalks?

We’ll know the answer in two or three months and the city ought to be sure that Jim Rhodes is in the first car that goes down the new road — wearing a ball cap, of course.

Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 10:40 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Finally, the Moon Road project is almost complete."