The "temporary" signs that posted the wrong speed limit in parts of Victorian Village and Harrison West for the past decade have been replaced. A week ago today, city workers replaced 25-mph signs with 30-mph signs on parts of Neil, King and 3rd avenues and put up 35-mph signs on a stretch of 5th Avenue.

The �temporary� signs that posted the wrong speed limit in parts of Victorian Village and Harrison West for the past decade have been replaced.

A week ago today, city workers replaced 25-mph signs with 30-mph signs on parts of Neil, King and 3rd avenues and put up 35-mph signs on a stretch of 5th Avenue.

But police will be watching to make sure drivers don�t go any faster. The division is placing additional patrols throughout the areas during the next two weeks, and the traffic unit will add the areas to its regular patrol, Sgt. Todd Kerin said. Speed trailers have been set up to show drivers how fast they are going.

As part of the Ohio Department of Transportation�s extension of I-670, the speed limit was lowered to 25 mph in those areas in 1995. The project wrapped up in 2003, and the limits should have been restored to 35 mph.

But the city left the 25-mph signs up while it built medians to slow traffic, even after ODOT sent a letter in 2005 calling the posted limit unenforceable. The medians weren�t finished until 2012 because of funding delays.

Last year, the city conducted speed studies in the area that showed that a 30-mph limit was reasonable on King and W. 3rd avenues between Olentangy River Road and N. High Street, and on Neil Avenue between Goodale Street and King Avenue. The W. 5th Avenue stretch between Olentangy and N. High should stay at 35 mph, according to the study.

ODOT analyzed the studies to ensure that they followed engineering guidelines and approved the new limits this year.

Police issued one warning to a speeding driver on Monday morning, Kerin said. �It will be on our regular list of places to hit, especially for this first year until people get acclimated to that new speed.�

The city expects extra speed enforcement and other so-called �traffic-calming� features, including a crosswalk over Neil at the Collins Avenue intersection, to reduce speeds in the area, said Rick Tilton, assistant director of the Department of Public Service.

A consultant also is studying whether 5th between High and Neil should be put on a �road diet� to reduce the number of lanes and reduce speeds, he said.

City engineers will conduct another set of speed studies this year to determine whether vehicles have slowed down enough to lower the limit to 25 mph again, Tilton said.

�I think there�s widespread support for 25 mph,� said Jeff Smith, president of the Short North Civic Association. �It wasn�t a highway, but people (are) definitely driving too fast. ... There�s a lot of pedestrian and bicycle activity on those streets.�

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan

@Crawlumbus