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Slide Deck Handout: State of Columbus Urbanism

  1. Amtrak
  2. LinkUS - better buses
  3. COTA
  4. Zoning Code Updates
  5. Bike Plus
  6. Accessory Dwelling Units
  7. Airport Renovations
  8. Vision Zero
  9. Urban Forestry Master Plan
  10. How to stay generally informed

This blog post accompanies a presentation given on Friday, September 15, to provide links. You can't click on a PowerPoint presentation if you're in the audience.

Amtrak

Map of current considerations for new Amtrak passenger rail service in Ohio, via MORPC and /u/huskerduer:

We'll know which of these routes get funding sometime this fall.

How to stay up to date?

LinkUS - better buses

The first three corridors are Bus Rapid Transit:

Construction of those corridors depends on a 2024 ballot measure raising the COTA sales tax from 0.5% to 1%, matching other Ohio municipalities. This will fund both the BRT service as well as sidewalk improvements within half a mile of fixed-route bus stops and bikeway improvements within three miles of bus stops, as long as those connect to the bus stop.

Eventually, this plan might build a tram or light-rail connecting Downtown to the Airport and possibly Easton. For more about that, you'll need to dig into the Insight 2050 report, the JET Task Force, or other historical proposals.

But first, they're doing Bus Rapid Transit on surface streets in dedicated lanes.

How to stay up to date?

COTA

COTA is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. They're still short on drivers, and they haven't been the best at communicating to riders about things. This will hopefully improve.

How to stay up to date?

Zoning Code Updates

Columbus is updating its zoning code. The first phase is focused on several mixed-use corridors, and will go before City Council in spring 2024 after several more rounds of community discussion. After that, they'll work on zoning code updates for the neighborhoods and for business districts.

Updating the zoning code to allow for more density isn't mandatory but it is necessary. Intel will bring 30k people to Central Ohio, and the Central Ohio population has been growing by ~16k people per year. We're only building 10k units of housing per year. If we want to avoid becoming San Francisco, we need to build more housing fast. City employees have said that we need to double it at minimum.

How to stay updated:

Bike Plus

Bike Plus is about bikes, scooters, skateboards, rollerskates, monowheels, and really every form of transportation that isn't your own feet or a motor vehicle. It's about building more safe infrastructure.

They might even be able to write the Public Right Of Way Access Guidelines (PROWAG) into Columbus' code. Or take into account the delayed 11th Edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, which was due on May 15, 2023.

Ways to stay involved:

Accessory Dwelling Units

ADUs are one tiny part of City Council's Upcoming Housing Initiatives, but they're a big one. If Columbus legalizes ADUs citywide, that has the potential to double the housing density in most neighborhoods.

How to stay involved:

Airport Renovations

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority is planning to build a new airport terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, replacing the current three terminals with a single terminal. No longer will you have to exit the secure area to switch airlines!

How to stay up to date:

Vision Zero

Vision Zero is the goal to eliminate fatal and serious-injury crashes. Columbus was one of the first cities in the country to have a Vision Zero plan; over the first few years of its existence there were no improvements in safety. Now, Council has passed the Vision Zero Action Plan 2.0, which includes a lot of safety improvements, but nowhere near as much as advocates wished for.

How to get involved:

Urban Forestry Master Plan

Columbus is updating the parts of its laws that govern trees on public property, including street trees. This has reached the public-comment stage.

How to stay involved:

  1. Read the public tree code update and leave your comments on it.
  2. Look at how many trees are in your area
  3. Request a free tree from Green Columbus for your yard, or request a free street tree in front of your property via 311.
  4. Sign up for the Urban Forestry Master Plan newsletter, via this sign-up link, or subscribe to their RSS feed

How to stay generally informed

Slide Deck Handout: State of Columbus Urbanism - September 15, 2023 - Ben Keith