Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
The Bike Plus planning initiative is a citywide effort to modernize the City’s bikeways plan, which was adopted in 2008. Through the 2024 Bike Plus plan, the Department of Public Service is actively engaged in making Columbus a city where people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds are able to bike and use other forms of micromobility safely and comfortably for any transportation or recreation need.
This ordinance demonstrates the commitment by the City of Columbus to the overall well-being of the City’s residents.
Bike Plus is one of the many strategies the City is using to make Columbus a healthy, equitable, resilient and economically strong community. Biking is a healthy, low-cost option that helps meet Climate Action Plan goals. Investment in safe bicycle infrastructure also supports the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate fatal and serious injury crashes on Columbus streets. The Bike Plus planning effort also aligns with the City’s goals to become a more walkable and transit-friendly city by supporting the Zone In and LinkUS initiatives. The Bike Plus plan includes a long-range vision for future bike infrastructure, as well as a short term goal to implement key bikeways in the next five years. The long-term plan envisions nearly 500 miles of new bikeways to be implemented throughout Columbus in the coming decades. The “near term network” aims to add 20 miles of new bikeways by 2029.
Community outreach is foundational to the Bike Plus plan’s Vision Network and strategies. Throughout the plan process, the Bike Plus team had over 11,000 engagement touchpoints including nearly 100 in-person events, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, public open houses, area commission and local organization presentations, conference sessions and intercept surveys at high-travel areas like bus stops, parks and community centers. In-person engagement was used in tandem with interactive webmaps and survey...
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