Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
Columbus City Council passed Ordinance 0849-2008 adopting the Columbus Bicentennial Bikeways Plan (BBP). The BBP recommends a "Share the Road" bicycle awareness and educational campaign to encourage the sharing of the High Street corridor from Nationwide Boulevard to Morse Road between motor vehicles, bicyclists and all other users.
High Street provides a key north-south connection between residential neighborhoods of the Short North, The Ohio State University Campus, and the Clintonville community as well as many retail establishments and the downtown core. It is a heavily traveled corridor by bicyclists, motor vehicles, and buses, and it provides a critical link in the Columbus transportation network carrying from 18,000 to 30,000 vehicles daily. During the development of the BBP, the section of High Street between Nationwide Boulevard and Morse Road was found to experience the highest concentration of bicycle related crashes of all arterial roadways evaluated from 2000 to 2004. There were 102 bicycle related crashes in this corridor over the five year period.
The City had previously hired a consultant to provide general bikeway engineering services, who is presently designing the locations for "Share The Road" signage and special pavement markings, or "Sharrows", throughout the approximately 6.5-mile long corridor. Design is planned to be completed in 2009 with construction completed in 2010. In addition, the consultant has provided assistance to the City in creating the education and awareness campaign, which was unveiled at the City's 2009 Bike To Work Week event held in May.
The Share the Road project was proposed in the City's 2009 Capital Improvement Program, as funding became available. However, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) approached the City earlier in 2009 with the opportunity to provide funding for the Share the Road project through the ODOT highway safety program. ODOT has committed fundi...
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