To put it simply: we need to start small.
To put it more exactly: we need a light rail shuttle between the Convention Center and the Airport.
It’s not that our new transit concepts to come out of the past few years haven’t been good ideas, it’s just that the timing is wrong.
COTA’s fast trax program was too ambitious to start with, and while proponents of light rail can shout about “the greater good” until they’re blue in the face, taxpayers that have to foot the bill are always going to be skeptical of new things because they don’t want to waste money and wind up making a mistake. I agree with them that Columbus doesn’t need a big transit blunder to make us a laughing stock.
And the downtown streetcar initiative is a great plan, and on a much smaller scale, but it’s most likely not going to see ground breaking work until after the completion of the highway split fix so that the streetcar tracks can be laid on the bridges running over the split. We can’t wait that long to get started on something.
Instead, I’m suggesting that we start with a light-rail shuttle that runs directly from the CMH Airport terminal to a station situated directly in between the Convention Center and The Arena District and adjacent to Downtown, The Short North, The North Market, and more. This is a prime location to deliver our airport visitors.
I’d think that this plan is something that could see groundbreaking within a year and shouldn’t take too long to see completion. The tracks are already mostly in place, so the stops on both ends are all that would be needed to get this thing running.
As far as funding goes, aside from federal assistance, the Airport, the Convention Center, the Visitors’ Bureau, Nationwide, and every Downtown improvement group should be funding this project. Additional support should come from Short North businesses, Downtown Hotels, and pretty much anyone else who’d be able to profit from this line.
Once we get one line in place, people will be able to see how rail transit works for Columbus and decide how they want to proceed with other plans after some hands-on experience. The downtown station for this line is in a prime spot for expansion as a transit hub, as it sits on the proposed streetcar line, could also function as a stop for multiple light rail lines running into suburban communities, sits next to existing bus lines and bike paths, and has enough nearby parking garage structures to serve those who want to park & ride at this stop.
Start small and start NOW!
Walker’s concept is probably one of the best ways to get a rail-something going. Simply from the perspective of the convention business, where Columbus is bidding against cities with better public transit. Reducing the costs associated with convention go’ers always adds to the attractiveness of a site.
Take this airport line a bit further, and we’d have our first line in from Ghanna. With a large park-n-ride lot on the other side of the airport, we could dramatically reduce the congestion on I-670 during rush hour.
Add a free-fare zone downtown with busses, or access to them with a transfer, and workers coming in from the east have a much easier day ahead of them.
I’ll save the long version for another day, but I think we can do one better than the “park-and-ride” solution by actually linking our downtown mass transit stops with suburban mixed-use transit stops.
I’d rather see a transit stop at Creekside in Gahanna, or even one at Easton so that it could serve me as a downtown resident looking to travel out to the burbs with a purpose, rather than dump me off at a parking garage where I have no car waiting for me.
It would give people as many reasons to ride as possible, and not just an accomodation for parking and riding for work and not much else.
[...] one month ago I made a post about the concept of building a Light Rail shuttle between Downtown and the Columbus Airport. [...]
[...] 27th, 2007 by walkerevans Exactly one month ago I made a post about the concept of building a Light Rail shuttle between Downtown and the Columbus Airport. [...]
[...] Aug 30th, 2007 by walkerevans (Originally posted here) [...]
Why not a (short) subway? I have read that the actual tunnel was built in the ’40s but was abandoned in favor of the nationwide “Happy Motoring” drive-in utopia craze. Just a little rehabilitation of the tunnel, and and your city has climate-controlled underground stations downtown at a (large) fraction of the cost of digging up the street and none of the attendant traffic disruption — and a redemption of earlier transit investment.
Ed, I think you might be confusing Columbus with Cincinnati, which did have a subway partially built and abandoned in the ’20s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Subway
So yeah, without any existing infrastructure, the cost of building a subway line in Columbus would be astronomical compared to street-grade rail or rail that uses existing tracks (like what I proposed above). Part of it would actually be below street level at the Convention Center anyway, as the roads and buildings there are elevated over the tracks there for a bit.
It’s a great idea, the problem is downtown.
I think too many of those on the fence go at it with the NIMBY argument-or better, the “it doesn’t serve me, me, me”. Part of that is they see this “obsession” with downtown. Any project that starts or ends downtown is going to come under heavy scrutiny. The challenge is getting over that hump…
We need a well though out comprehensive plan, and then break it down into small achievable pieces. Your suggestion of a line out to the airport is great, and would make a lot of sense though as was also suggested a stop should be incorporated at least into Easton , maybe Gahanna, and maybe even New Albany. So the route after Easton might be added later but it should be in the picture.
Being in the picture is important to get people thinking and visualizing about how this is really more comprehensive.
Funding is critical though and the real estate industry should get behind it, they are going to benefit from the development opportunities that willl occur at every stop for more interesting dense communities.
Take it one step further and swing North past the airport for a final station somewhere around the Easton / New Albany area. This would accomplish making Easton seem more sustainable (access by mass transit) which it is far from doing currently, and a potential employee shuttle for companies like The Limited, State Auto, and Huntington, all of whom have very large offices in the Easton area. Then employees can live downtown, or in New Albany, and connect between the two without ever setting foot on the highways.