Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
This legislation authorizes the Director of Public Service to transfer property to the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) that was acquired in connection to COTA’s Cleveland Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
The BRT is a 15.6-mile high capacity transit project comprised of a combination of BRT services operating in mixed traffic primarily along Cleveland Avenue between downtown Columbus and SR-161, with enhanced bus service continuing north to Polaris Parkway and Africa Road, connecting commuters with various land uses along the corridor through the City of Columbus, Clinton Township, and the Village of Minerva Park in Franklin County, terminating in the City of Westerville in Delaware County. The BRT line utilizes “an operational strategy that facilitates the movement of in-service transit vehicles through traffic-signal controlled intersections” known as the Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) System, which endeavors to reduce transit vehicle travel times and transit schedule variability while minimizing the impact to “conventional” traffic using the same road network.
COTA received a federal funding grant from the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) for the BRT project. COTA used part of those funds to acquire certain real property for right-of-way purposes to house COTA BRT shelters at locations where sufficient right-of-way was not available. At the property know as Parcel 11 located at 1024 Cleveland Avenue, the taking of the original right-of-way acreage for the shelter left an uneconomic remnant property of 0.113 acre. COTA agreed to acquire the entire residual property in the name of the City of Columbus. This property is known as 1024 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43201, Franklin County Parcel Number 010-032057, as described in instrument 201812100166807 and further described as the remaining portion of Parcel No. 010-032057. The FTA has determined that the residual property needs to be transferred to COTA...
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