Mayor Andrew Ginther stood inside the Driving Park Community Center to unveil a proposed $2.8 billion capital budget that puts $24 million toward fixing one of the city's deadliest stretches of road right outside the building's doors. The centerpiece of that spending is East Livingston Avenue, where Ginther said the goal is to end fatal and serious crashes along the corridor.
The mayor's announcement, reported by WOSU Public Media, comes as the city looks to improve traffic safety along Livingston Avenue.
Why Livingston Avenue Made the Cut
The corridor's safety concerns help explain the urgency. The proposed work focuses on East Livingston Avenue between 18th Street and Nelson Road.
The danger on that corridor is not abstract to Driving Park residents. In May, a car tore through a barrier and slammed into Brothers Chicken & Fish at 1808 East Livingston Avenue, leaving one person in critical condition, as Hoodline reported in Car Blasts Through Columbus Chicken Joint. The crash highlights broader safety pressures facing the avenue.
The pedestrian safety problem extends well beyond Driving Park. The capital budget includes $20.9 million for bikeway and sidewalk construction, replacement and repairs citywide, plus $21.67 million to rebuild East Broad Street on the Far East Side with new pedestrian and bike facilities, and more than $100 million for Department of Public Service projects.
Water Plant Delay Clouds a Billion-Dollar Project
Not every line item in the budget is moving smoothly. The city's plan to build a fourth regional water treatment plant, known as the Home Road Water Plant, in southwest Delaware County is meant to meet demand from residential growth and data centers straining the water system, with the project expected to cost more than $1 billion over several years, according to the budget. Columbus is reviewing the plant's bid package and may change its bidding strategy after contractors submitted no bids for the construction package in August.
Kristen Atha said the city is meeting with multiple contractors about the water treatment plant as officials work through the setback. The Division of Water has scheduled an informational session for potential bidders for Monday, September 14, 2026, aiming to adjust bidding criteria and gather contractor feedback before moving forward. The plant, built on the former site of the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility, carries an overall project estimate of $1.6 billion, will be powered by floating solar panels, and is intended to reach an initial capacity of 48 million gallons per day, per Contractor News. It was originally supposed to be complete by 2032 to accommodate Central Ohio's population growth toward 3 million residents, a timeline the current bidding trouble now puts in question.
McCoy Park Fight Still Echoes in the Budget
Some of the new spending traces back to an April fight over parkland. Columbus City Council voted 5-3 that month to approve a $25 million public funding agreement for a new National Women's Soccer League training facility at McCoy Park, reallocating land that had been designated for an inclusive therapeutic recreation park for residents with disabilities, according to WOSU Public Media. Under that agreement, the team's ownership group committed $3 million toward alternative adaptive sports facilities to offset the lost park space.
The new capital budget includes more than $13 million to build replacement parks on the Southwest Side, a direct response to the community backlash over McCoy Park's conversion. The budget also sets aside $5 million for repairs to Barack Community Center after storms damaged the facility.
Fire Trucks, Pools and a Growing Price Tag
Public safety spending is also climbing sharply. The budget includes $21.5 million for new fire apparatuses. The Department of Public Service is allocated more than $100 million for street resurfacing, Livingston Avenue improvements and new refuse equipment, while the city is separately spending $13.5 million to reconstruct the Tuttle Park pool.
Ginther said new construction costs have increased sharply, a pressure visible across the roughly $2.8 billion proposal, which includes more than $2 billion in new spending. That figure is included in the roughly $2.8 billion proposal. Columbus City Council must vote on the new capital budget.
