In a state with pressing budget problems and a stated objective to focus on more multi-modal transportation, should a new four-lane, grade-separated highway parallel to an existing interstate really be a priority? I don’t think so, and I guess that’s why there’s no state or federal funding for it, as discussed in the article below.
I know transportation funds aren’t necessarily fungible, but if the goal is to improve the economic link between Columbus and Pittsburgh, maybe providing a mode of transportation that is currently unavailable to travelers would be a better alternative.
Committee discusses toll road to Pittsburgh
BY KENT MALLETT • Advocate Reporter • February 7, 2009HANOVER — The Columbus-Pittsburgh Corridor Committee directed its members Friday to begin discussions about creating a toll road between the two major cities.
The committee, which represents the seven Ohio counties along the route, asked its members to talk with county commissioners, mayors and other governmental leaders about potential support for such a funding plan.
The goal of the committee, which met Friday at Longaberger Golf Club, near Hanover, is to complete a 160-mile, four-lane, limited-access highway connecting Columbus and Pittsburgh.
Luther Liggett, of Bricker & Eckler law firm, representing the Ohio Engineers Association, presented the toll-road idea to the committee, which took no official action other than to discuss the plan.
The Ohio Department of Transportation and the federal government likely will never approve the funds needed to widen the highway and limit access along the entire route, Liggett said. He said Ohio already has legislation in place to create the toll road.
Taft era coin collections in state retirement accounts, billions of dollars for a downtown Columbus freeway three miles to… the other side of town, tenth grade educational goals regurgitated for ‘09, and now a parallel toll road to Pittsburg!? People outside the state ask if Ohioans are acting out a problem with the water supply. I explain how Ohio shot its wad with all those 19th century presidents. Now that industry has gone, and only Indiana to compare fovourably: we all sing ‘jubialtion t. cornpone’ in reprise with central cities shouting the joy of deserved poverty. Sorry, that’s what I hear.
If there is no state or federal funding for it I don’t see a problem. If the road fails that means no tolls and the company goes belly up and leaves us a road to maintain. While if it succeeds it helps Columbus maintain what it once was, a logistical hub to the Midwest.
So whats the downside, besides maintenance expenses if the company goes under what do we really loose?
I will agree with you that we need to rethink our methods of transportation in this area, and I think things like using existing track to create the 3C is a great idea, but I think the real problem is finding ways to get logistics people what they really want, a direct route to/from any other major city. I am ready to gamble that any light rail system(Especially just running it through affluent neighborhoods where people can afford cars) will go the way of the COTA within 10 years, especially with the central Ohioian mindset and the introduction of more cost efficient vehicles.
So I guess my point is I don’t see where the friction is here, if tax payers are not footing the bill, and if it makes a more direct connection to pitt (I mean I have always gone through Akron to get to pitt so I don’t think 70 is the most direct route anyway) I don’t understand the problem.
J. Gleason,
I’m not adamantly opposed to this project. I’m just saying I don’t think it should be a very high priority and I think rail would be a better way to link the two economies, if that is truly the goal.
If this highway is needed, which I doubt, then I think a toll road would be the way to go. However, I didn’t see any discussion about a private company operating the road. I expect that a quasi-public organization similar to the Ohio Turnpike Commission would be created. This would leave taxpayers on the hook for any bonds used to finance construction if for some reason the road couldn’t fund itself. I’m unsure of the chance of that actually happening, but it may be a concern given the existence of a free parallel corridor.
The main downsides of the highway in my opinion would be the inefficient use of natural resources, the environmentally impacts of the road, and the potential auto-dependent land-uses that typically come with new highways. The last point could be alleviated with land use regulations, but no government seems to know how to do that in a way that pleases me.
As for the distance to Pittsburgh, it’s 185 miles via I-70 and 235 miles via Akron, so you might want to try the short route. The new corridor would be roughly the same distance as the I-70 to I-79 route, so it really wouldn’t help people or businesses in Columbus or Pittsburgh very much. I would argue that this project is more about the communities between Columbus and Pittsburgh than it is about either city.
The State of Ohio owns the rail line between Columbus and almost to Pittsburgh….with a 23 mile stretch of right of way in West Virginia that would need to be re-tracked. I’d rather see that support a robust schedule of passenger and freight trains than to lay another mile of asphalt or concrete… tolls or no tolls.