The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and the Central Ohio Rural Planning Organization (CORPO) will receive $4.8 million in federal funding to support the Coalition for Integrated Road User Safety (CIRUS) planning initiative.
CIRUS is a three-year, $6 million roadway safety program serving seven rural counties in Central Ohio: Fairfield, Knox, Madison, Marion, Morrow, Pickaway, and Union. The initiative focuses on improving safety for all road users through roadway safety audits, identification of high-risk rural corridors, and evaluation of advanced vehicle safety strategies.
Federal funding will cover $4.8 million of the total project cost. This is a public-private partnership between MORPC, the Ohio Department of Transportation, Honda, the Transportation Research Center, and The Ohio State University.
The planning initiative will run for three years. MORPC expects CIRUS activities to inform future safety investments and implementation programs across the CORPO roadway network. The program builds on a $200,000 Safe Streets for All planning grant MORPC received in 2022 to develop a regional Safety Action Plan.