Toledo is the only major city in Ohio without a direct route to the state capital and local officials are hoping that with enough community input, the governor will use his authority to correct that problem.
In particular, from Waldo, Ohio to the I-270 beltway around Columbus there are 38 stop lights, which significantly slows down traffic. In addition, those lights impede the expeditious movement of goods and services from the northwest Ohio region to the state capital, Councilman George Sarantou said at a Wednesday news conference at One Government Center.
“Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Youngstown all have direct highways to Columbus with zero stoplights,” he said.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has set up an online portal for people to leave location-specific comments about the U.S. 23 corridor north of Columbus through Delaware County, and Mr. Sarantou joined fellow councilman Theresa Morris and Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz to encourage residents to do just that.
Comments may be made through Friday to the portal, which is available at publicinput.com/23connect.
Improvements to the corridor have been studied, but the Ohio Department of Transportation determined that major work would cost $1 billion and reduce traffic time by only 13 minutes. As a result, ODOT abandoned the plan as too costly and moved to investigate the potential for smaller U.S. 23 projects that would address specific problem areas rather than tackling the entire corridor.
In response, Toledo City Council adopted a resolution this past spring calling on the administration of Gov. Mike DeWine to “overrule” ODOT’s findings. They are hopeful that with council action and enough community input, the governor will listen.
“I remember him very clearly saying that the buck stops with him,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said on Wednesday. “He has the ability to overrule ODOT and we want to take him at his word. We hope that he does. He has the ability to intervene and make this decision, one that will be positive not just for Toledo and the region, but the entire country.”
Toledo officials maintain that the current traffic congestion along that stretch of highway impairs economic development through Ohio and into Michigan and even Canada as well. Ohio’s connection to the southwest is growing as well because of improved interstates in that region, which makes improving Route 23 an important factor for Toledo’s potential growth opportunity in that area, Mr. Sarantou said.
“In 2019, Ohio raised our gasoline tax by 10.5 cents per gallon to 38.5 cents to conduct more transportation projects [and] we need to receive our fair share,” Mr. Sarantou said. “We are asking Governor DeWine to provide the leadership to vastly improve Route 23 in Delaware County.”
Ms. Morris echoed that sentiment and said that the right infrastructure could elevate the Midwest region while creating an “economic and labor force generator.”
“Columbus needs to step up and start paying attention to northwest Ohio,” she said. “Ohio is open for business, but you might not be able to get there on Route 23. Now is the time to make this investment in our infrastructure.
“Yes, it’s expensive, just ask [Dwight] Eisenhower, but it’s more expensive to do nothing,” Ms. Morris in reference to the 34th president, who is credited with being the main force behind the modern interstate highway system.
Staff writer David Patch contributed to this report.
First Published January 11, 2023, 7:22 p.m.
