This story is part of Worthington Pulse's coverage of the September 8 City Council meeting. Start with the September 8 meeting recap.
Worthington City Council advanced three transportation efforts on September 8: it appropriated funds to begin a bundle of bike and pedestrian projects paid for through the region's LinkUS program, and it authorized applications for federal grants to repave part of North High Street and to replace two aging bridges on the Olentangy Trail. Director and City Engineer John Moorehead presented all three, and each passed.
LinkUS projects get their first appropriation
Council appropriated the 2026 funds to launch four active-transportation projects and to hire a consultant team to design them (Ordinance 26-2026). The work flows from LinkUS, the Central Ohio transportation program voters approved through COTA; Worthington expects to receive roughly $7 million in active-transportation funding over the next three to five years. Moorehead noted the money comes on a reimbursement basis: the city appropriates and spends first, then is repaid through annual grant agreements, so a fresh appropriation will accompany each phase through about 2029.
The city bundled the work into a single consulting contract led by EMH&T, with a team that includes Burgess & Niple and Toole Design, a firm that specializes in active-transportation planning. Four projects are in this first phase:
- A trail crossing fix at SR-315 and SR-161. Today, trail users coming from the Olentangy Trail who want to head west must take a spur down under SR-161, up a steep slope, and onto a highway slip ramp against oncoming traffic. The project would add a surface crosswalk on SR-161 so riders and walkers can cross at street level, with timing that gives pedestrians a head start. Dorothy noted city crash data showing 19 bicycle crashes between March 2022 and August 2026, five of them at that location.
- An East Wilson Bridge Road shared-use path. The path would connect to McCord Park and complete a continuous off-road route from High Street east to Westerville. The goal is construction by 2029.
- A citywide sidewalk-gap program. Using the gaps identified in the city's 2019 bicycle and pedestrian master plan, the first phase covers design and survey in 2026, with construction phased over the following years. Moorehead clarified the program fills stretches of missing sidewalk on blocks that already have some, rather than adding sidewalks to streets that have none.
- A Worthington-Galena Road corridor feasibility study. Paid through a separate Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board appropriation, the study will look at Worthington-Galena Road between the Northeast Gateway and High Street, plus Schrock Road, for ways to make an old country-style road with shoulders and ditches friendlier to people on foot.
Council amended the ordinance to the version in the agenda packet and passed it on a roll-call vote. Council Member Pete Bucher noted that COTA plans to launch a public LinkUS dashboard later in September so residents can track where the money goes.
A bid to repave North High Street
Council authorized an application for federal transportation dollars to repave North High Street from Worthington-Galena Road to the city's southern corporate limit (Resolution 54-2026). The roughly $1.5 million project would cover full-depth resurfacing along with sidewalk repairs, restriping, and crosswalk improvements. The funds come through the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, which distributes federal money to eligible regional projects on an 80% federal, 20% local basis.
Moorehead explained the city is applying because High Street no longer qualifies for the ODOT Urban Paving Program it has used before: that program targets roads in poorer condition, and Worthington's pavement scores too well to be eligible. If awarded, the funds would not be available until roughly 2030 or 2031, though the city may seek a loan through the State Infrastructure Bank to move the paving up a year or two. Moorehead also explained that while the city does receive municipal motor vehicle license tax and gas tax revenue for larger roads like High Street, those funds do not cover the cost of maintaining the city's streets.
Replacing two Olentangy Trail bridges
Council also authorized an application, drawing on the same regional funding pool, to replace two aging timber bridges on the Olentangy Trail, one near Tucker Drive and one near the Whitney Avenue access point (Resolution 55-2026). One of the bridges was damaged by arson. The roughly $2 million project would install pre-engineered steel bridges wide and strong enough to carry not just daily trail traffic but emergency vehicles, which currently cannot safely cross the timber spans to reach a trail user in distress. Earlier applications to ODOT and for state capital funding were unsuccessful; staff believe the project is a strong candidate for the region's system-maintenance category. Council members praised the trail's heavy use and the city's push to connect it to nearby streets and businesses.
This is one of 3 Worthington Pulse stories from the September 8 city council meeting recap.