COTA Line Review: 9 W Mound/Brentnell
LONG ROUTE
what is this
The 9 is a very long route. In fact, it is COTA’s longest route, clocking in at over 25 miles long. It takes roughly 2 hours to ride from end to end, making 114 stops along the way. It runs from Easton down through some neighborhoods in between Linden and Gahanna, then through Milo-Grogan and King-Lincoln before arriving downtown. From downtown, it crosses the Scioto into Franklinton, where it continues heading southwest through Hilltop before terminating at the western end of Lincoln Village.
okay, where does it go
We started our arduous journey at the Easton Transit Center, departing around 10 minutes late (less than ideal). We turned south onto Stelzer, then west onto Easton Way, traveling through the Easton Mall. From there, we turned south onto Sunbury, running along the same route as the 31, parallel to Alum Creek.
After running along Sunbury for a while (and getting some good views of the creek), we diverged from the 31 as we turned west onto Agler. We turned south onto Perdue, making local stops in a neighborhood of single-family homes. We turned east onto Earl, then south onto Woodland, then east again onto Myrtle, then south again onto Brentnell. This neighborhood still completely consisted of smaller and older single-family homes than your typical suburbia. Also, there were sidewalks for the entire way so far.
After running on Brentnell for quite a while, continuing through the same neighborhood, we turned west onto East 5th and entered Milo-Grogan. In this area, the houses turned into warehouses and industry, then back to houses again. Interchange with the 22 is available along some parts of East 5th. After going through Milo-Grogan on East 5th for a while, we turned south onto Saint Clair, crossed I-670, and entered King-Lincoln. The houses became closer together in this area, but otherwise, no scenery change.
We turned west onto Spring and crossed over the Innerbelt, entering Downtown Columbus. The density dramatically increased, and we were now serving 20+ story office buildings. We also passed by Columbus State Community College. We turned north onto Cleveland, then turned west onto Mount Vernon. Note that the northwest-bound 9 takes different streets through downtown. Mount Vernon merged into Nationwide, but not long after that, we turned south onto High. High Street is the main arterial path that north/south buses take through Downtown Columbus, with bus lanes. In addition, the ridership hit its peak around here and retained roughly the same ridership until very close to the end of the line.
We promptly turned west off of High and onto Spring, then turning south onto Marconi. Note that, at time of publishing, the southbound 9 will run one block east on Front, not running south on Marconi. The northbound 9 is unaffected. We passed by the headquarters for American Electric Power. Eventually, we caught a glimpse of the Scioto Mile as we continued to run south along Marconi, then turning west onto Broad, then south onto Front, passing by the Supreme Court of Ohio, and with it, the World’s Largest Gavel. We turned west onto Main and passed by Bicentennial Park before crossing the Scioto on the Main Street Bridge, entering Franklinton.
The density dropped off very quickly upon entering Franklinton, and Main Street merged into Rich Street. We served apartment buildings which gradually turned into single-family homes as we continued westward along Rich. We turned north onto Grubb, then quickly turning west onto Town, crossing back over the Innerbelt. The scenery remained the same, but there were a few nice green spaces sprinkled throughout the neighborhood. We turned south onto Central, then back west onto Mound.
After traveling on Mound for a while, we left Franklinton and entered Hilltop. The scenery remained relatively unchanged. We turned south onto Hague, then west onto Briggs, then south again onto Demorest, then west again onto Clime. We passed north of the Big Run Park before turning south onto Georgesville, making a deviation to a Walmart. This deviation was heavily used as we had 5 people get on and 4 people get off. After the Walmart deviation, we continued southwest on Georgesville, where the density dropped off yet again and we traveled through almost rural places, with empty fields. Despite this, the bus still had significant ridership, at around 7 people. This was also the first place where sidewalks disappeared.
We turned north onto Norton and the sidewalks promptly returned. The single-family homes returned as well, which progressed into commercial buildings as we came closer to Broad. Eventually, we turned west onto Broad for a short time, then terminating at the Westwoods Park & Ride. Ridership slowly dropped off, and by the time the bus terminated, I was one of only a few people remaining on the bus. In various parts of this section, interchange is available to the 6, 10, and 21.
so what
As I have already mentioned, this is a very long route, which adds to the scenery. It runs along pretty much the perfect path for sightseeing in Downtown, passing by just about everything worth seeing with the exception of the Statehouse and any of the sports arenas/fields. Elsewhere, the scenery isn’t great, but it varies just enough to keep it interesting. It is worth noting that since I rode this line the route downtown has changed, and it may not be as good for downtown sightseeing anymore.
final rating
I will give the 9 a 7/10. It makes very useful connections to other routes, the scenery is interesting enough, and there are sidewalks along the vast majority of the route. The main thing it is lacking in is frequency, as it runs every hour.
Interesting that you mention the fact that it left late. I've noticed that the buses that run most sporadically also tend to start/arrive late. I suppose that's good because people are less likely to miss their important routes if they need.