The LinkUS West Broad Street bus rapid transit corridor may experience delays in development.
Engineering consulting firm HNTB told the Central Ohio Transit Authority's, or COTA, board of trustees on Monday that the schedule for the corridor is currently delayed approximately 16 months due to a new traffic analysis, according to a presentation given to the board. COTA is the government agency behind the LinkUS transportation and development plan.
Updated traffic projections were issued by the Ohio Department of Transportation in May 2025, according to the presentation, with doubled anticipated traffic volumes.
“Let's be very clear, this is something that a lot of projects have had to do because we've changed our traffic patterns last year,” said Jeff Pullin, COTA's director of public and media relations. “The state required all state workers back to the office, and we know that that increases traffic on our highways, and so because West Broad Street is on a U.S. highway controlled by (the Ohio Department of Transportation), we have to make sure that we resubmit those traffic analysis to make sure that we're putting the best project forward.”
The construction manager at risk, the person who looks for risk and communicates construction phasing for a project, has projections that would create an 11-month delay on the planned December 2028 opening of the transit line.
This delay on the opening would only apply if the 16-month schedule delay were to actually become reality, Pullin said.
Pullin said COTA is currently 90% complete with the engineering and design process. Once that is finished, it will be submitted to the Federal Transit Administration, which is when COTA and federal officials will work to determine a construction and opening timeline for the project, as well as funding eligibility.
Pullin also said the consultants on the project are being cautious about potential delays caused by the traffic reanalysis.
“I think HNTB wants our board of trustees to know that there are potentials for delays, and I think that is important for the board to know, because they do make decisions on how our money is being spent,” Pullin said. “I also think it's very important to have that conversation in an open meeting, which is what happened, because we want people to know that we're transparent on any changes that might potentially happen.”
The West Broad Street corridor will include 17 bus rapid transit stations and five miles of dedicated bus lanes west of downtown Columbus.
