AASHTO Journal, 22 June 2012
Ohio Department of Transportation has found creative ways to save hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to speed up transportation projects in the coming years.
“I have said time and time again that we have great people at ODOT who are going to amaze us and that’s happening right now,” said ODOT Director Jerry Wray in a statement. “Our employees are working at a rapid pace to reduce our cost of doing business and improve service to the state’s motoring public. We’re innovating and approaching the delivery of services in a new way, and all of this is allowing us to save millions of dollars that we can put into our major construction budget.”
A total of $400 million has been freed up for ODOT to use on transportation projects in the next five fiscal years (2013-2017), $200 million of which would be used in next year alone. That money comes from savings in other areas of the department, including improved district office efficiency, workforce and fleet reductions, savings from milder winters, gas tax receipts that were higher than expected, and the elimination of federal earmarks.
More information on ODOT’s upcoming transportation projects is available at bit.ly/ohioprojects.