City officials have approved a contract with an electrical company to modernize a group of traffic signals on Central Avenue.
The Board of Public Works and Safety approved a contract with Midwestern Electric for $302,000 for the work, which will improve lights from 25th Street and Central Avenue, all the way down to the front entrance to the Cummins Engine Plant.
City Engineer Andrew Beckort said its “mostly a mobility project” that will clean up the timing of the seven signalized intersections in the stretch.
“Right now they’re running their own timing plans, they’re not coordinated, so you could hit all seven red lights,” Beckort said. “This is going to put their timing together. So if you’re driving 30 mph, you might hit the red at 25th and Central and then get green the whole way down to Third Street.”
The stretch of road also includes two of the city’s top five crash intersections, based on the most up-to-date crash analysis.
In 2023, city engineering found that intersections at 25th Street and Central Avenue, along with 10th Street and Central Avenue were among the highest contributors to the 700 documented crashes that year.
The full top five were:
- 25th Street and Central Avenue
- Rocky Ford Road and Central Avenue
- 10th Street and Central Avenue
- 25th Street and Marr Road
- 25th Street and Taylor Road
Bids for the project were unsealed during the Columbus Board of Public Works meeting on Oct. 8. The city received two bids— one from Midwestern Electric and another from Dave O’Mara Contractor Inc.
Work on the project is expected to start immediately, according to city officials, with the completion date set for March 1, 2025.
