By 1812Blockhouse
While no Richland County project made any of the tiers of major capacity projects recommended for total or partial completion by the Ohio Department of Transportation, at least one significant project will impact those traveling from here to Columbus.
The Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) has created the annual draft list of projects to receive funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Major New Capacity Program over the next four years. It includes more than $390 million in new funding commitments.
The public can comment on the draft list by emailing [email protected] until March 23. TRAC will vote on the final list at their March 29 meeting.
“Ohio is on the move,” said ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks. “These investments will help ensure that transportation isn’t a barrier to prosperity across the state.”
TRAC operates on an annual application cycle. At the completion of the application process TRAC members vote on the approval of the Major New Construction Program List of funding commitments for preliminary engineering, detailed design, right-of-way and project construction. Projects receiving funding commitments are placed into three “tiers” based upon the level of project development:
- Tier I – The group of projects recommended for construction during the upcoming four-year construction period.
- Tier II – The group of projects recommended for additional environmental, design or right-of-way development activities necessary before the projects would be available for construction.
- Tier III – The group of projects with previous phases funded for construction in Tier I. Projects placed in Tier III status are part of a long-range funding plan to advance multiple phase projects.
There were 31 new applications submitted this year.
Included in the Tier I project list was “Phase A” of the new interchange on I71 at Sunbury Parkway, south of the current US36/Ohio37 junction. The total cost of that construction is pegged at $33.4 million. Additional components are included in Tier III.
Other I71 projects in Tier II include improvements to the I71/I270 intersection and design work for the proposed new interchange at I71 and Big Walnut Road in Delaware County.
A full list of projects can be accessed here.
Source: ODOT; Image by Artmor Productions from Pixabay
