Context: Xenia, Ohio is located about 20 miles southeast of Dayton. This city of 25,000 is home to four regional bike trails1 (depicted by the colored lines on the map below). These four trails see 5,500 users per day who spend $16 million in the region each year (Friends of Xenia Station). Until 2017, none of the trails connected through Xenia’s downtown.

This trail infrastructure is a significant asset for the region. However, without a safe route into Xenia’s downtown, the struggling district was missing out on potential economic benefits from the thousands of daily trail users.

What is the Project?

The Downtown Safety Project was a combination of street and intersection redesigns and includes the introduction of a new two-way protected bike lane. Significant improvements were made to Detroit Street, the main north-south commercial street running through downtown, including removing a lane of lane of vehicular traffic to install the protected bike lane. Other improvements included resurfacing and restriping, expanded medians, and relocating bike and pedestrian crossings.

In 2017 the city of Xenia began its Downtown Safety Project. Construction of this multi-faceted infrastructure plan took 9 months and was completed in 2018.

Project Specifics

The Downtown Safety Project included the following components:

1. Resurfacing and restriping of Detroit St. between Church St. and Home Ave., reducing southbound Detroit St. through lanes from 2 to 1 to ease pedestrian crossings and discourage speeding without causing traffic delays.

2. Installing a 2-way protected bike lane between Church St. and 3rd St., with a 3-ft. buffer and physical barrier protecting cyclists from motorists.

3. Expanded median on W. Main St. at Creekside Trail crossing to limit turning movements and reduce vehicular accidents. Median and improved warning signals at this location will also improve the safety of pedestrians/cyclists crossing W. Main St.

4. Consolidation of West/King signals into one signal at Galloway St./W. Main St. to improve traffic flow and prevent intersection blockage due to existing signals being too close to other signals.

5. Reconfiguration of W. Church St./N. Detroit St. intersection to change angle of approach for southbound right turns and eliminate the "5th leg" approach to Detroit Blvd., improving vehicular safety.

6. Relocate Market/Detroit pedestrian crossing to safer south side of intersection, install new red-flashing overhead pedestrian hybrid beacon to better alert approaching motorists.

7. Relocate Home/Detroit bike/pedestrian crossing to Hill St./Detroit St. with new RRFB signal, protective median and new bike path directly connecting Ohio-to-Erie Trail to bike hub.

Why This Project?

The decision to design and execute the Downtown Safety Project was a result of community input received during the city’s comprehensive planning process and focused on two major goals: addressing several safety problem areas downtown and connecting downtown with popular regional bike trails.

Downtown Safety: A major priority of the X-Plan was to create a vibrant downtown that is safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. City staff knew of safety problem areas in the downtown, including an intersection where a city employee was struck by a vehicle. Additionally, improvements were planned at an intersection on West Main Street at the point of a bike path crossing that had seen a high number of vehicular collisions.

Regional Bike Connectivity: While Xenia sits at the confluence of four regional bike trails, there was no local bike infrastructure downtown. Citizens recognized this and asked for better bike connectivity between the city and the trails, understanding that increased foot and bike traffic could better support downtown businesses and provide economic benefits for Xenia. Previous efforts to integrate bike infrastructure downtown were unsuccessful in part due to opposition from business owners to the proposed removal of on street parking spaces. This was a chance for Xenia to come up with a sustainable solution that addressed everyone’s needs and connect an otherwise intact 80-mile trail.

How Was It Funded?

The total construction and engineering project cost was $1,527,932. A federal Highway Safety Improvement Grant funded 86% ($1,321,826) of the total project. The remaining 14% was funded through state grants, and a City of Xenia contribution of $124,720 out of their general capital fund.

Who Spearheaded the Project?

The Downtown Safety Project was a joint effort between the Xenia Planning and Zoning Division and Engineering Division. Brian Forschner, the city planner for Xenia, was the champion of the project. He has been in this role since 2010 and led the creation of the city’s comprehensive plan, the X-Plan. Forschner’s efforts combined with those of the City Manager, City Engineer, and consultant, made this project a success. The city partnered with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) to conduct a walk audit of the downtown and hired a consultant to conduct a traffic study to determine the impact of removing a lane of traffic on Detroit Street to install a protected bike lane. ODOT managed the construction and had final sign off on the design.

What Were the Ingredients That Made This Project Successful?

Community engagement was a key piece of the Downtown Safety Project. The city mailed flyers to every residence in Xenia, explaining the purpose of the project and tying it back to the public input received during the comprehensive planning process.

This project directly addressed concerns business owners had over removing parking in previous plans. This design was reworked so that nearly all the existing street parking was retained with the addition of the bike lane, which earned support for the project from most businesses.  The planning team, led by Brian Forschner, went door-to-door with downtown businesses to discuss the proposed changes and ensure that they were either supportive, or at worst, neutral.

City leadership also played a critical role in executing the plan but also in understanding the value of the regional bike infrastructure and having the vision to connect those assets to Xenia’s downtown was also crucial to this project’s success.

What Lessons Can Other Communities Learn from Xenia?

Xenia is a great example of how city leadership can act on community desires and leverage existing assets. Leaders asked residents what they wanted to see downtown and then took steps to make it a reality.

City leaders also saw the opportunity to connect the new bike path and downtown pedestrian improvements to the regional bike trails, which improved regional bike connectivity and set the stage for economic development downtown.  Forschner identifies this increased level of connectivity as a significant factor in the success of the Detroit Street bike lane.

Forschner cited several ways he would improve upon the Xenia project.  First, he recommends collecting data at all phases of the project. By monitoring usage before and after safety changes were made, Xenia could have had quantitative impact data to share with residents and demonstrate the value of future projects. The nature of Xenia’s project would have required manual bicycle counts, which exceeded available City staff capacity. However, technological advancements in the years since this project have increasingly automated data collection, making these before-and-after comparisons more feasible.

Additionally, Forschner now wishes they had used something more permanent than the plastic bollards that are in place. Though the bollards are effective, a more permanent solution would be more visually appealing.

What Are the Outcomes Of The Project?

Improved Safety: The intersection at West Main Street and Creekside Trail, formerly a site of frequent collisions, is no longer ranked as a primary problem spot.

Additionally, the sidewalks are safer downtown because prior to the creation of the Detroit Street bike lane, cyclists were permitted to ride on the sidewalk causing safety concerns for pedestrians. Now far fewer cyclists are on the sidewalk and instead use the protected bike lane.

Community Reactions: The downtown business community was mostly supportive of the bike lane, in large part due to the community engagement on the front end of the project. Businesses appreciated that much of the parking was kept on Detroit Street, a departure from previous plans.

Community sentiment on the bike lane is still somewhat divided.  On one hand, many, including cyclists, love it.  Additionally, as part of their comprehensive plan update, Xenia has surveyed residents and responses show lots of interest in expanding pedestrian and bike improvements around town. Whether that is because of the Detroit Street bike lane is unclear though Forschner posits that it may have changed people’s perceptions about what is possible.   On the other hand, some residents complain that the bike lane slows traffic and looks cluttered. It should be noted that similarly, the Xenia community is not universally supportive of the larger trail system.

Economic Benefits: Overall, the Downtown Safety Project strengthened the bike system and Xenia’s marketing as a trail hub. Though COVID hurt businesses and likely muted the impact of the bike lane, Xenia has seen some economic benefits. While there is not hard data available on the bike lane usage in Xenia’s downtown, anecdotally, city staff have observed more people on bikes since the introduction of the Detroit Street bike lane. A downtown brewery saw a 15% uptick in business after the bike lane was completed.

Additionally, there are several major projects underway in downtown Xenia, including a mixed-use development at Xenia Town Square. While these projects may not be a direct result of the Downtown Safety Plan changes, they will certainly be helped by the Detroit Street bike lane and plan to incorporate bike infrastructure in the developments.

The safer downtown and now fully connected trail system through Xenia will aid the city in its ongoing and future development. As Brian Forschner said in our interview, “this story is still unfolding.” So, stay tuned!