Northwest Ohioans should not be fooled, improvements planned for U.S. 23 between Waldo and Worthington are for the safety and convenience of the upscale residents of Delaware County.
Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Transportation are making a mighty effort to sell the reduction of 39 traffic lights to 7 at a cost of $1.4 to $1.9 billion as a significant improvement in connection between Toledo and Columbus. ( “Ohio details overhaul for end of U.S. 23,” Tuesday )
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But the governor knows only a highway connection between Toledo and Columbus with a bypass from U.S. 23 east to Interstate 71 makes significant commerce between Columbus and Toledo likely.
Mr. DeWine promises that a proposal suitable to make freight shipping between Toledo and Columbus possible will be unveiled later this year. After 60 years of unkept promises to link Toledo and Columbus we need to see action on a plan and don’t consider the $3.5 billion estimated cost as an excuse for further delay.
All of northwest Ohio is diminished economically by the state’s longstanding failure to build a suitable highway connection. Now, even small upgrades bring praise from regional leaders who should be satisfied with nothing less than a direct connection between Toledo and Columbus.
“With improvements to the existing Route 23, Governor DeWine is taking a positive first step toward a comprehensive plan that will support Ohio’s future economic vitality,” said Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments executive director Sandy Spang.
But as always, Governor DeWine and the Republican legislature is supporting the economic vitality of Columbus. The Waldo to Worthington stretch of U.S. 23 is dangerously congested. It’s been the site of nine fatal auto accidents and 72 serious injury accidents since 2020.
The residents of high-end homes and owners of new businesses built along the corridor are angry over traffic volumes far beyond what U.S. 23 can handle. Eliminating stoplights, adding a lane, building overpasses, and restricted U-turn lanes will ease their complaints.
But Greater Toledo is still the least likely location in Ohio for a supplier company to the Intel computer chip plant near Columbus or the Amgen biotech packaging plant also in New Albany, without a highway caliber connection.
That highway connection to Columbus is now and has been for three generations the single biggest transportation need for northwest Ohio. State Rep. Derek Merrin, leader of the Ohio House Republican Caucus, needs to drive a highway appropriation to show clout needed in the U.S. House 9th district.
The improvements planned for U.S. 23 will save time on the journey between Toledo and Columbus improving Columbus’ ability to attract visitors from northwest Ohio. But only a highway connection will spur a meaningful economic development link between Columbus and northwest Ohio. The upgrade to improve the quality of life in Ohio’s fastest growing county does nothing to satisfy the needs of northwest Ohio communities in the midst of economic decline.
Paradoxically, the more Ohio’s budget is devoted to Columbus the weaker the state’s overall economy becomes. Michigan’s economy is currently growing nearly five times faster than Ohio according to the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank. If our state leaders were held to football coaching expectations they would all be fired.
It’s time for state government to understand, Ohio needs the connection to Toledo even more than we do.
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