COLUMBUS — The Ohio Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved an $11.5 billion transportation budget to fund roads, bridges, airports, and public transit over the next two years, putting a potential bypass allowing northwest Ohio traffic to skirt U.S. 23 congestion in Delaware County back on the table.
Before returning House Bill 54 to the House of Representatives, the Senate added a fifth option for the Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission to consider as they ponder potential corridors for that bypass.
Sen. Andrew Brenner (R., Powell), who represents Delaware County, amended the bill to add expansion of existing Route 529 farther north in Marion and Morrow counties as an option to connect U.S. 23 and I-71.
He told The Blade that he worries another corridor farther south might harm Delaware Lake, a flood-control and water supply reservoir.
“My thought is, if they’re going to put something in, they probably need to connect it further north in an area that isn’t as populated and isn’t growing as rapidly as our area is,” he said.
He said already proposed upgrades to existing U.S. 23 through Delaware and Lewis Center on its way to the I-270 beltway around Columbus could work together with a bypass to alleviate congestion.
“It’s going to require a lot of money, so the state has to look at options for funding these additional routes,” Mr. Brenner said. “We’re talking probably billions upon billions of additional dollars for all the infrastructure that’s needed in central Ohio alone, let alone other parts of the state.”
The House later voted overwhelmingly to agree with the Senate changes and sent it to Gov. Mike DeWine.
ODOT and the turnpike commission would use $500,000 to develop preliminary engineering plans for five potential bypass corridors. They must consider variations on expanding existing roads, including specifically Route 529 and Route 229, a new freeway, and a new toll road.
Their recommendations would be due by Oct. 1.
“We need to make sure that we are keeping Ohio poised to deal with some of the things happening in transportation, moving goods and services from Canada and Ohio, and also the question about how we deal with the congestion on U.S. 23 as it goes through Delaware County and Franklin County,” said Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D., Toledo).
At the moment, ODOT’s plan to deal with the lack of a free-flowing highway between Toledo and Columbus is to address congestion on U.S. 23 south of Waldo. Its $1.6 billion proposal would reconfigure intersections and reduce traffic lights from 39 now to seven to keep through-traffic moving and reduce commuting time for locals.
In addition to the U.S. 23 bypass language, the Senate added a requirement that the turnpike commission study the feasibility of a new interchange and access point near Clyde in Sandusky County. The commission must report back on that by the end of next year.
The bill also:
• Provides $1.5 million for ODOT to study the feasibility of what would be Ohio’s portion of a proposed I-73 highway running from South Carolina north into Michigan. This study, to be completed by the end of 2026, would look at a route generally paralleling existing U.S. 23.
• Prohibits counties and townships from operating automated traffic camera programs. Currently, three townships — all in Trumbull County —operate such programs.
• Requires customers of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to provide proof of U.S. citizenship before being offered opportunities to register to vote.
• Removes House language for Ohio to rejoin the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact as the state studies the feasibility of two potential corridors — Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit and Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati.
• Removes House language appropriating $1 million for a pilot program to test the cost effectiveness of providing vouchers to low-income Ohioans to use private transit.
• Provides $27 million over two years, down from $30 million currently, to continue the Ohio Workforce Mobility Partnership Program funding transit projects helping Ohioans get to key employment centers.
• Requires ODOT, upon request from a village, to assist with snow and ice removal, road salt application, and vegetation removal on state highways running through that village.
• Protects the turnpike commission from some civil lawsuits by extending to it the same sovereign immunity other political subdivisions enjoy.
First Published March 19, 2025, 8:41 p.m.
