Ohio to Spend Near-Record $2.3B on Roadwork in 2017

COLUMBUS – While not quite to the record levels of infrastructure spending seen in 2014 and 2015, this year will prove to be busy nonetheless as the Ohio Department of Transportation is set to spend $2.3 billion on nearly 1,100 projects across the state this year.

In the Mahoning Valley, more than $57 million will be spent on roadway projects. Eighteen contracts for roadwork have been awarded in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, valued at $21.7 million and $19.3 million, respectively. In Columbiana County, 22 projects will cost $16.2 million.

More than 6,900 miles of roads will be paved this summer and 1,281 bridges will be repaired or replaced. Twenty-six projects in Ohio are valued at more than $10 million. Of the 1,098 projects, 191 are aimed at making roads safer and include work ranging from reconfiguring intersections to adding signs and signals.

Other projects include implementing technology like the OHGO real-time traffic notification app and intelligent transportation systems, as well as variable speed limits.

“Our transportation network is Ohio’s greatest man-made asset, and it is our duty to ensure it is in the best condition possible. That’s why 93 cents of every dollar we’re spending on roads and bridges this year will go to preservation,” said ODOT Director Jerry Wray in a release.

Traffic deaths have increased in Ohio in each of the last three years. In construction zones alone last year, there were 6,041 crashes, resulting in 28 deaths, 186 serious injuries and 810 minor injuries.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.