TOLEDO, Ohio — Downtown Toledo drivers will soon be seeing some changes.
The city is working on adding bike lanes and more parking spaces to parts of Erie Street - from Jefferson to Cherry - and Michigan Avenue - from Jackson to Jefferson.
It's all part of Toledo's Downtown Transportation Plan.
Liz Medskar drives downtown every day for work and knows the traffic patterns well.
"It's going to be rough for a little bit," Medskar said. "Traffic is going to be rough. Rush hour on Erie Street is kind of crazy."
Right now, drivers enjoy three lanes of traffic on Erie Street and Michigan Avenue. That'll soon be cut down to two lanes to make room for the new bike lane and parking.
Liz Medsker said construction downtown is something she's gotten used to.
"I know personally for me there's like several spots in my normal route that I can't drive right now because of construction, so I'm kind of already doing detours through the summer. This'll have to be just another one," Medsker said.
Jeremy Mikolajczyk is the Interim Director of Toledo's Department of Transportation.
He said this should only take about a week to complete on each street. But after construction, with three lanes turning into two, you might think that'll make traffic worse downtown.
Mikolajczyk said that shouldn't be the case.
"The downtown area, it really only has heavy traffic at certain points in time during the day," Mikolajczyk said. "But for most of the day, it's fairly light traffic and it shouldn't really affect it that much."
But he also said this change is all about safety.
"It gives room for bicyclist; it gives extra room for people who are walking on the sidewalk," Mikolajczyk said. "They don't have to worry about someone coming behind them on a scooter or bicycle. So yes, it is part of a safety initiative for the City of Toledo."
With Medsker using sidewalks often when walking to and from her car, she likes the idea of getting those VEO scooters off the sidewalks and into a bike lane.
"It can be a little scary with those zipping around," Medskar said. "It'd be nice if that is becoming a more dedicated way for scooter traffic. Then maybe you won't have mix-ups with pedestrians."
The city plans to start construction on July 19.
Mikolajczyk said they plan to use a simple construction design. If the project ends up not working, changes shouldn't take long.
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