August 29, 2006

TAFT ASKS TURNPIKE TO KEEP TOLLS DOWN
Cleveland Plain Dealer
John P. Coyne
08-29-06

Gov. Bob Taft sent a letter to the Ohio Turnpike Commission on Monday opposing the agency's proposal to increase turnpike tolls. The commission said this month that it would raise tolls for passenger cars to $10.25 from the present $8.25 to travel the turnpike from Indiana to Pennsylvania. For trucks weighing between 33,000 and 42,000 pounds, the rate would jump to $24 from $21.50. In his letter, Taft said he asked Tim Keen, director of the Office of Budget and Management, to find out more about the turnpike's underlying operating cost, capital expenditure and debt service assumptions. Though Keen met with the turnpike's staff Aug. 17, the administration says it is still waiting for the requested information. The first of three public hearings planned by the Turnpike Commission on its proposed increases will be held in Toledo tonight. Taft urged the commission "to develop an alternative plan - temporary or permanent - that will both keep tolls down and maintain the quality of roads and service that your customers deserve." http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1156840637113880.xml&coll=2

MAIN STREET BRIDGE PROJECT SHUTS DOWN ROAD
Columbus Dispatch
Mark Ferenchik
08-25-06

Washington Boulevard will close between Rich and Town streets as the city and state prepare to tear down the Main Street bridge over the Scioto River. The street will remain closed until 2009, when the new $44.1 million bridge is scheduled to be finished. Columbus has set aside $51 million, most of that state and federal money, to pay for the project. The city can borrow up to $15 million from the state for the bridge. The city also plans to replace the Town Street bridge with one connecting Town Street on the west bank to Rich Street on the east bank. The city scrapped plans to build a pedestrian-only bridge linking the two banks, but the new Main and Town-Rich street bridges will carry pedestrians. http://www.cd.columbus.oh.us/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/25/20060825-E4-01.html

HILLIARD’S NEW PARKWAY TO ALLEVIATE I-270 TRAFFIC
Columbus Dispatch
Dean Narciso
08-29-06

The new Britton Parkway will have a big effect on Hilliard development. Just as important, it will help ease traffic along I-270, officials predict. The two-year, $10.3 million project, which connects Dublin, Columbus and Hilliard, and acts as an Outerbelt bypass, was officially completed yesterday morning when the northbound lanes opened. http://www.cd.columbus.oh.us/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/29/20060829-D1-03.html

CHANGES TO RTE. 224 PROPOSED IN STUDY
Vindicator
Denise Dick
08-28-06

Boardman – Actual changes to improve traffic flow along the U.S. Route 224 corridor might be a long way down the road, but the proposals are here now. The latest report from the U.S. Route 224 corridor study breaks the busy thoroughfare into five sections with recommendations to improve traffic flow in each section. Committee members, including representatives from Canfield and Boardman trustees, ODOT and Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, will meet to discuss the recommendations this week, said Kathleen Rodi, Eastgate's director of transportation. ODOT and Eastgate split the cost of the study of the 6-mile stretch of U.S. 224 between state Route 11 in Canfield and I-680 in Poland. Rodi stressed that the process to bring any of the suggested projects to reality is far from complete. http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/21344098919979.php