FHWA 51-16 - Columbus/Union County
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel.: 202-366-0660

USDOT Announces $5.9 Million Grant for NW 33 Innovation Corridor Project in Union County, Ohio

Funds to support smart mobility technologies on route in Columbus region

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced a $5.9 million grant for the NW 33 Innovation Corridor Partnership to implement a variety of intelligent systems technologies on US Route 33 in the cities of Marysville and Dublin in Union County, near Columbus, Ohio. The grants support the state’s Smart Mobility Initiative.

“Union County has experienced tremendous growth in past decade and is now home to Ohio’s major employers,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “These grants will make it easier for residents to commute to those jobs and access more opportunity.”

The NW 33 Innovation Corridor Partnership, created by thecities of Marysville and Dublin and Union County, received the $5.9 million grant under FHWA’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program. The grant will go toward a wide range of connected vehicle applications that will serve numerous communities in rural and suburban and improve access to employment centers along the US 33 Corridor. The technologies will include queue warning, speed harmonization, dynamic signal timing and pedestrian warning systems on local street networks. The project also includes dynamic ridesharing and carpooling to select major employers along the corridor to expand travel options to jobs.

“The project will make it possible for people to get to jobs,” Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau said. “It will bring economic benefits by reducing delay and improving the reliable movement of people, goods and services.”

The award was part of a larger announcement totaling $56.6 million to fund advanced technologies various areas in the country. The ATCMTD program funds technologies that address the concerns outlined in Beyond Traffic, the USDOT report issued last year that examines the challenges facing America's transportation infrastructure over the next three decades, such as a rapidly growing population and increasing traffic.

ATCMTD was established under the “Fixing America's Surface Transportation” Act. State departments of transportation, local governments, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations and other eligible entities were invited to apply under the program.

The project was a finalist under the Smart City Challenge program.

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