Stimulus Watch

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[edit] General Description

The North Corridor Transit Program was originally a project of the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). It was conceived as a light rail line running from downtown Columbus north to The Ohio State University and thence further north to the northern border of Franklin County. Its proposed route would have taken it south from the Polaris shopping district at the border of Franklin and Delaware Counties along existing rail lines to 17th Avenue (due east of Ohio State), then at street grade west along 17th to Summit Street, south to Goodale Boulevard, west to High Street, and south on High Street into downtown. The return route would be largely identical save for traveling north on Fourth Street instead of Summit. COTA intended it to be the first light rail line in the Columbus area out of eight planned. [1]

The project was terminated in 2006 due to a lack of funding, [2] and its former Web site now displays only ads for online gambling sites.

In January 2009, the administration of Michael Coleman, mayor of Columbus, made a request for funding for the North Corridor line to be included in the proposed stimulus package. [3] At $200 million, it is the largest single earmark proposed for the Columbus area in that package.

The North Corridor program is related to but should be distinguished from the streetcar line intermittently supported by the Coleman administration, which was not projected to extend north of Ohio State; the entire cost of that project was estimated at $103 million. [4] It should also be distinguished from plans to bring intercity passenger rail to the Midwest, notably the 3-C and OhioHub [5] plans, projects of state, not local, authorities: the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) and Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). ORDC and ODOT are also requesting $100 million in a separate earmark within the stimulus proposal for the first phase of the 3-C corridor (named for the three major Ohio cities to be connected by the proposed passenger line: Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland); this is a separate request from that for the North Corridor line. [6]

[edit] Points in Favor

• Columbus has been the only major city in Ohio increasing in population, with a substantial amount of that growth occurring in the northern reaches of Franklin County. The costs of expanding the capacity of freeway interchanges along the Outerbelt to accommodate additional commuter demand is actually substantially higher than the proposed cost of the rail line; the cost of reconstructing a single interchange in northeastern Franklin County, at I-270 (the Outerbelt) and OH-161, was $134 million. [7] Obviating the need for even two more such construction projects would make the project pay for itself.
• Many studies suggest that fixed rail attracts greater private investment along its routes than bus lines along identical routes, because the more permanent nature of fixed rail reassures developers that the route will not change unexpectedly.

[edit] Points Against

• Columbus' superhighway system, while crowded, is not as crushingly overburdened as some in other metropolitan areas, and the comparative absence of major geological obstacles allowed it to be laid out in an efficient pattern that allows for comparatively easy and unrestricted movement by car.
• Projections of high ridership may prove optimistic.
• The operating costs of the system will represent a perennial financial commitment for COTA (or another agency) once the line is operational; stimulus funds will not be available to cover such costs.
• The construction schedule may be significantly protracted, notwithstanding the extensive use of existing railroad rights of way.