Explanation
Earlier this year, Mayor Michael B. Coleman announced a new program, which will provide safe pedestrian routes along major arterial roadways through the investment in new roadway infrastructure, including sidewalks, within older areas of the city of Columbus, such as the 1958 corporate boundary. The program signals a more meaningful cooperation between Public Utilities and Public Service in how they manage their capital improvement programs to advance pedestrian safety. City Council approved $1,000,000 in funding for Operation SAFEWALKS in its 2007 Capital Improvement Budget, Ordinance 0733-2007, which was passed by City Council on June 11, 2007.
Issues to be addressed by a project under Operation SAFEWALKS include:
· Provide safe pedestrian routes along older arterial roadways;
· Install storm sewers, curbs and gutters along roadways where flooding occurs;
· Resolve roadway and adjacent property flooding;
· Replace old roadway pavement.
The program will be implemented in a two-pronged approach through an asset inventory effort and a policy and program development effort. This ordinance addresses the asset inventory effort. A companion ordinance engaging the services of Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) for policy development will be presented to City Council for passage separately from this ordinance.
To develop policy, and for programming future projects under the Operation SAFEWALKS program, the condition and presence of roadway assets such as sidewalks, ditches, pavement, and ROW width must be inventoried. To achieve this objective, the Transportation Division requires the services of a vendor to perform the inventory task, as present resources within the Division to conduct this inventory effort do not exist. The Transportation Division already has in contract for asset management inventory under the resurfacing program Infrastructure Management Systems, Inc. ("IMS"), a company based in Chicago. It is expected th...
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