It’s time to stop the dawdling and build a U.S. 23 freeway from Toledo to Columbus. The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to give Toledo and northwest Ohio the shaft again. We won’t stand for it.
Toledo remains the only major Ohio city without a highway to the state capital. That is absurd. It closes down economic opportunities for thousands of hardworking folks in our area. It cuts our businesses off from economic development in the center of the state. It cuts us off from Intel.
Columbus and its bureaucrats have designated us for second-class status. Toledoans are part of Ohio, and we’re fed up with ODOT and its stand against highway plans that benefit actual people, not rare salamanders.
We refuse to be treated as second-class citizens, and now is the time for politicians to take a stand. It’s time for Toledo to get a direct path to Columbus. The job needs to get started now, ODOT approved or not. The future of northwest Ohio cannot be left in the hands of bureaucrats.
ODOT’s so–called study contained a foregone conclusion. Those bureaucratic twaddlers would much rather say “No” than get the job done.
The way things are going, Ukraine will be rebuilt before Toledo will have a limited-access road to Columbus. We want the project fast-tracked, ODOT’s enervated bureaucrats pushed out of the way, and the Columbus Road built in the next gubernatorial term. We don’t want a “Fort to Port” generation or more to pass before this happens.
Strong governors ignore bureaucrats and order them to get it done. Spinelessness from a governor does nothing for Toledo.
Mr. DeWine’s spokeSman’s response on the study’s conclusion was:
“We are at a reflection point.”
Reflection point? That reflection point is decades old. How about making something happen? You’re the governor, Mr. DeWine. You run ODOT. Or do the bureaucrats run you?
The governor should not join the likes of Gov. Michael V. DiSalle, who reneged on his promise to then-Blade publisher, Paul Block, Jr., to get the road between Toledo and Columbus planned and started between 1959 and 1963.
In those days it could be completed in one gubernatorial term. The Blade proudly helped James Rhodes defeat “Tax Hike Mike” in the 1962 governor’s election. It didn’t matter that DiSalle was a Toledoan. He forgot his promise and his hometown. We never forget what these politicians and parties promise.
Michael DiSalle was an earlier-era Democrat; nevertheless, his sin of breaching his promise to build the Columbus Road falls more on the Democrats. Nan Whaley should immediately promise it will be built if she wins.
Ms. Whaley should look at the absurd contents of the ODOT study. Here’s a portion of the executive summary of the study:
“The study clearly indicated that improvements to the existing U.S. 23 corridor would positively affect tens of thousands of drivers daily. Public feedback has shown that improvements to safety and congestion is a top priority for many who live and travel along the route. …”
What? Then build the damn road.
ODOT must get out of the way, or be forced out of the way by a strong governor.
The Ohio Turnpike Commission was created by the Ohio legislature and signed into law by Gov. Frank Lausche in 1949. The entire 241-mile Ohio Turnpike opened in 1955. The Toledo-Columbus project could be decided, designed, and built in one gubernatorial term if there was will. We insist that happen.
First Published May 15, 2022, 4:00 a.m.
