Public comments due Aug. 31, 2021
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has made available for review and comment a proposed amendment to the 2020-2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP).
The MTP amendment would reflect recent work completed by the LinkUS team on the East-West and Northwest high-capacity transit corridors based on recent studies completed as part of the LinkUS Mobility Initiative, a partnership among the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), City of Columbus, Franklin County and MORPC.
The MTP is the long-range planning document that identifies transportation deficiencies, policies, strategies and projects in MORPC’s federally designated metropolitan transportation planning area. The area includes: Delaware County; Franklin County; Bloom and Violet townships in Fairfield County; New Albany, Pataskala and Etna Township in Licking County; and Jerome Township in Union County.
The 2020-2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan was adopted in May 2020 and became effective July 1, 2020.
“In order to receive federal transportation funding in the future, projects are required be included in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. LinkUS is the region’s mobility, prosperity and growth initiative focused along key regional growth corridors and multimodal connections in Central Ohio. This amendment continues the momentum in bringing the vision to a reality.”
Specifically, the amendment identifies Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as the mode for three corridors already identified for high-capacity transit in the MTP (West Broad Street, East Main Street and the Northwest Corridor) and adds one additional BRT corridor (East Broad Street from Taylor Road to Souder Avenue). It also adjusts the expected construction timeframe for one of the BRT corridors and incorporates updated cost estimates for two BRT corridors. These changes are all consistent with the study results of the Northwest Corridor Mobility Study and the East-West Corridor Alternatives Analysis, both of which were completed as part of the LinkUS Mobility Initiative.
Members of the public are encouraged to comment on the proposed amendment, which can be viewed at morpc.org/mtp2050. Comments can be submitted by email to mtp@morpc.org or in writing to MORPC, 111 Liberty Street, Suite 100, Columbus, Ohio 43215, Attn: Maria Schaper, by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.
“As users of the transportation system, it’s important that the public has the opportunity to weigh in on the region’s plan for priority transportation investments."
The amendment will be considered for adoption at MORPC’s Community Advisory Committee, Transportation Advisory Committee and Transportation Policy Committee meetings in September.
