Columbus City Council passes new bike lane infrastructure plan

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Bike Plus plan launched in 2023, and after 18 months of drafting a plan to create more bike trails and sidewalks, Columbus City Council gave the draft of the plan a green light.

It’s a plan that Columbus City Council member Lourdes Barroso de Padilla said is long overdue. 

“The last time we had a Bike Plus plan was in — our bike plan was in 2008. So a lot certainly has changed in Columbus since 2008,” said Barroso de Padilla. 

After 16 years, Columbus is going to see some infrastructure changes to accommodate the city’s rapid growth and create a more accessible city. The plan adds 487 miles of new bikeways. It’s an update of the Columbus bicentennial bikeways plan.

“We’re planning for the Columbus of today and the Columbus of tomorrow by making transportation easier and more accessible and giving more choices to folks,” said Barroso de Padilla. 

According to council and experts, as the city grows, Columbus can’t afford to have more cars on the road and needs more micromobility transportation. Public safety is their top priority when creating this plan and making transportation more affordable and accessible for residents. 

“It costs $12,000 to keep up with a good car per year. So removing that as a concern for folks and having that transportation budget shrink, but making sure that it’s safe and that it’s reliable and that it’s effective, again, that’s a promise that we have to all of our residents,” said Barroso de Padilla.   

Now that the Bike Plus plan draft has been passed, the implementation of the plan will begin. We aren’t sure when that will be, but council members are still open to engaging with the community on the plan.