A bicyclist rides on the Olentangy Trail in Columbus. Columbus City Council has rolled out a new plan to improve bike and scooter infrastructure in the city.
City Council on Monday approved the Bike Plus plan, a long-term plan to add more bikeways to the city and encourage more people to use bicycles, scooters, skateboards and rollerblades for transportation and recreation. It seeks to eventually create 189 miles of on-street bikeways, 270 miles of shared use paths, and 28 miles of urban trails and greenways.
Councilwoman Lourdes Barosso de Padilla, who chairs the city’s Public Services and Transportation committee, said the plan is one of many strategies the city is using today to plan for the Columbus of tomorrow. Some estimates suggest as many as 1 million people will move to central Ohio by 2050.
“It’s really about building the infrastructure for what we know is coming, and it’s about behavior change for our residents,” Barosso de Padilla said.
The plan notes that “creating a safe network that reduces car dependence and promotes active transportation will help manage congestion and lower emissions in our growing city.”
It identifies 20 miles of bikeways that will be prioritized in the next five years, including building connections or protected intersections on parts of Summit and Fourth streets, Spring and Long streets, Rich Street, South High Street and Frebis Avenue.Barroso de Padilla said that even before the plan was approved, the city installed a protected bike lane on East Broad Street. That project is […]
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