Tom Warne Report, 22 March 2013
The Ohio Senate voted 27-6 on Wednesday to advance the state’s omnibus transportation bill to the House that includes increasing speed limits on some roadways and a toll hike on the Ohio Turnpike. The Senate made changes to the two-year, $7.6 billion budget bill including dropping the provision to increase truck weights on some roadways in the state.
The main component in HB51 is a plan to borrow $1.5 billion against the Ohio Turnpike to help pay for road projects across the state. A toll provision added to the measure promises 90 percent of the bond money would be spent on northern Ohio roads, within 75 miles of the turnpike.
In exchange for the toll road accruing the debt, toll rates will rise annually for the next decade for most users. Toll rates will be frozen for drivers using E-ZPass and traveling under 30 miles. Another provision added to the bill will increase speeds by 5 mph for all vehicles on rural interstates, from 65 mph to 70 mph.
The provision to allow use of toll revenues to address transportation needs within 75 miles of the turnpike recognizes that the turnpike does not operate in a vacuum but that it takes a system of collectors and other roads to deliver traffic to it. It is a much more realistic approach than the position that all revenues need to be spent on the toll facility itself. This latter approach fails to recognize the “systemic” nature of transportation. TW