September Newsletter

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The LinkUS Leadership Coalition began its work in August, kicking off a series of meetings to help shape the future of mobility, growth and prosperity in the Central Ohio region. The coalition will help identify which specific mobility investments and aligned programs will make the greatest positive impacts for our community in advancing equity, innovation, workforce development, affordability, economic development, competitiveness and the long-term sustainability of our region. The coalition will build upon the mobility, growth, transit and other planning efforts our region has undertaken in recent years. The goal of the coalition is to recommend a highly coordinated implementation strategy that will bring key elements of all these plans into realization.

 

The LinkUS Leadership Coalition consists of three committees:

 

  • The Executive Committee provides guidance and strategic direction to the LinkUS implementation partners – The City of Columbus, COTA, Franklin County and MORPC – leading to a recommendation outlining which programming elements and funding strategies are critical to moving our region forward.

 

  • The Steering Committee includes 35 representatives from a broad spectrum of entities including business, community and civic leaders, and nonprofit, philanthropic, technology and other industries. The Steering Committee will meet and work through the technical details of program development and coordination, as well as review available funding options. Ultimately, the Steering Committee will present its recommendations to the Executive Committee for consideration.

 

  • The Administrative Committee is a group of administrative and technical staff from the four partner agencies that will need to lead implementation efforts – The City of Columbus, COTA, Franklin County and MORPC. This committee includes supporting staff and consultants developing the analysis and options to be considered and presented to the Steering Committee throughout the process. 

 

You can find the full list of Executive and Steering Committee members here.


Learned more about LinkUS at the

Columbus Metropolitan Club!

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Join Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, Columbus City Council President Shannon G. Hardin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the YWCA Columbus Christie Angel, Chief Equity Officer of COTA Monica Jones and Executive Director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) William Murdock, as they share information about LinkUS, answer your questions and help the community learn more about strategies to move the region forward. The Columbus Metropolitan Club Luncheon takes place on Wednesday, September 15, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Columbus Boat House. You can RSVP by visiting the CMC registration page.

Northwest Corridor

Northwest Corridor, Phase 1 planning and analysis work is complete. This first phase of work outlines a vision for high-capacity rapid transit along Olentangy River Road along with appropriate transit-supportive development offering greater housing choices, access to jobs and more. The overarching goal of the Northwest Corridor project is to provide a premium transit option that carries more people with greater reliability and provides more frequent service, resulting in shorter travel times to this corridor. This plan offers a modern, innovative Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, unlike anything we currently have here in Central Ohio, to meet the needs of our residents and to help facilitate the continued economic development of growing innovation in this corridor.


Read the full report by visiting our website.

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Read More

Next steps for Northwest moving into Phase 2


  •  The Phase 2 study area extends from downtown Columbus to the city of Dublin. Since June 28, the project team has kicked off the next phase of work with financial support from COTA and Columbus City Council’s passage of legislation to proceed with Phase 2 of the Northwest Corridor. This will refine Phase 1 concepts to identify a preferred transit guideway design and station locations for a new BRT line in the corridor. Phase 2 will position the Northwest Corridor for a future federal funding request.

 

  • In August, a series of kickoff sessions and field tours were held with members of the Northwest Corridor staff and consultant teams, led by prime consultant TranSystems Corporation.


  • The team will soon present plans for community engagement and invite stakeholders to engage in this next phase of implementation.


Visit the Resource page of the LinkUS website for more information regarding Phase 2.

Learn More

East-West Corridors

In July, the COTA Board of Trustees adopted three Locally Preferred Alternatives (LPAs) for the East-West Corridors, voting to move two of them – the West Broad Street and East Main Street BRT corridors – into the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Capital Investment Grants program process.


LPA is a federal term that refers to the specific mode and transit guideway alignment that will provide best high-capacity rapid transit investment for the corridor. While LPA is not an immediate request for funding, it is an important step in advancing the project into the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Capital Investment Grants program process.

The LPAs detail the mode, alignment, guideway and station locations determined to be the best fit based on technical analysis, community feedback and competitiveness with other transit projects being considered for federal funding. LPAs also provide more refined cost estimates for the project.


The three East-West Corridors’ LPAs include:

  1. West Broad Street BRT Corridor, from Westwoods Boulevard to Washington Avenue, an 8.5-mile alignment (from Prairie Township through Westgate, the Hilltop and Franklinton, ending in Downtown Columbus).
  2. East Main Street BRT Corridor from High Street and Spring Street to Taylor Road, a 13-mile alignment (from Downtown Columbus through Bexley and Whitehall to Reynoldsburg).
  3. East Broad Street BRT Corridor from Souder Avenue to Taylor Road, a 13.6-mile alignment (from Franklinton through Bexley and Whitehall and to Jefferson Township). COTA will begin by first phasing in the West Broad BRT Corridor and the East Main BRT Corridor.


As the LinkUS vision and viable high-capacity rapid transit corridors are further developed in collaboration with The City of Columbus, MORPC, Franklin County and Central Ohio residents, a phasing and funding plan for the LinkUS corridors will emerge from the Coalition’s efforts.


Amendments to MORPC’s Long Range Metropolitan Transportation Plan were reviewed at the September MORPC Commission. The amendments include adding East Broad Street as a BRT Corridor and updating details of the East Main Street and West Broad Street BRT corridors. These actions by MORPC are necessary for these projects to enter the federal funding pipeline. Project updates will continue to be available here.

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