Ohio kicks off US$2.5 billion highway construction season

The Ohio government recently outlined the scope of the 2014 highway construction projects to be financed with funds borrowed against future Ohio Turnpike tolls. In total, 936 projects are planned at an estimated cost of US$2.5 billion. Planned projects include the widening of a section of I-75, a three-year project expected to cost about US$260 million, plus a US$28 million reconstruction of part of I-75, US$31 million in improvements to I-475/US 23 in Toledo's western suburbs, and the US$18 million McCo
April 11, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The Ohio government recently outlined the scope of the 2014 highway construction projects to be financed with funds borrowed against future Ohio Turnpike tolls. In total, 936 projects are planned at an estimated cost of US$2.5 billion.

Planned projects include the widening of a section of I-75, a three-year project expected to cost about US$260 million, plus a US$28 million reconstruction of part of I-75, US$31 million in improvements to I-475/US 23 in Toledo's western suburbs, and the US$18 million McCord Road underpass in Holland.

Legislation approved last year permits revenue derived from the tolls to be spent not just on the turnpike, but on other roads deemed to have a connection to the toll road. The use of toll revenue, in turn, allows the 7609 Ohio Department of Transportation's traditional fuel tax revenue stream to be devoted to other road improvements, principally roads farther from the turnpike, but also including the state's contribution to work like the McCord project, which will replace a busy railroad crossing with a railroad bridge over the road.

Related Content

  • December 19, 2013
    Funding approved for US Ohio River Bridges Project
    US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan for US$452 million to finance the Downtown Crossing section of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project. The cost of the Downtown Crossing, which Kentucky is funding, is around US$1.3 billion, and represents one half of the bi-state Ohio River Bridges project, which also includes the new East End Bridge, also spanning the Ohio River eight miles to the north
    Read More
  • August 23, 2016
    Ohio moving towards self-driving vehicle testing
    Ohio's toll road, a heavily travelled connector between the East Coast and Chicago, is moving closer to allowing the testing of self-driving vehicles. Testing is likely to begin within 12 months, and possibly before the end of the year, the Ohio Turnpike's executive director, Randy Cole, told the Associated Press. Officials overseeing the roadway have spent more than a year looking at the possibilities, he said. Ohio is among several states competing to play a role in the testing and research of auton
    Read More
  • May 11, 2012
    Funding shortfall for US Interstate upgrades
    Andrew Bardin Williams investigates tolling on the federal Interstate system as maintenance and upgrade requirements increasingly outpace funding The I-95 corridor through North Carolina is one of the most heavy trafficked interstates in the US, seeing upwards of 46,000 vehicles per day in some stretches-and North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (NCDOT) estimates this number will to rise to 98,000 vehicles per day by 2040. Along with the rest of the federal interstate system, the North Carolina str
    Read More
  • March 10, 2014
    Colombia approves highway plan funding
    Colombia has approved US$13.4 billion in funding for nine highway projects, part of a master plan to revamp and expand Latin America's fourth largest road network. All nine projects are part of the Autopistas para la Prosperidad program, which involves the construction of some 838 kilometres of two-lane highways, 63 kilometres of bridges and 90 kilometres of tunnels. The government also decided to finance directly the construction of Toyo tunnel, ruling out the concession framework for that project.
    Read More

Highlighted Content