COLUMBUS, Ohio — As central Ohio grows, so does the need for more robust public transportation and more accessible pedestrian and bike pathways. 

“The first five years will be investing more than $250 million in central Ohio for building new sidewalks and trails,” said the Chief Mobility and Infrastructure Officer for the Mid-Ohio Planning Commission, Parag Agrawal.

That’s the plan for the first five years of LinkUS. A two billion dollar transportation and growth plan that includes eighty projects aimed at creating more than one hundred and fifty million miles of new sidewalks, bikeways and trails across central Ohio. 

“Issue 47 is basically a game changer. It’s about the affordable housing. It is about economic development, and it’s also about mobility and connectivity,” said Agrawal. 

The .5% increase in the COTA sales tax would support the LinkUS initiative that The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission says will not only create more public transportation but will also create affordable housing and more jobs. 

“It’s not only about putting up bus service. It’s also about connectivity. How can you connect our residential areas with the job centers? How can we basically make our roadways much safer for our community residents,” said Agrawal. 

LinkUS is a collaborative effort between COTA, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, Columbus City Council, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and many more. The goal of LinkUS is to see drastic infrastructure changes within the next five to ten years. 

“Our goal is that we want to deliver this project to our member communities in a most efficient manner. All budget and on time,” said Agrawal. 

Taxpayers in the areas COTA serves, including Franklin County and parts of Delaware, Licking, Fairfield and Union counties voted to pass the levy. The sales tax will be increased in those counties beginning on January first.