State officials consider ways to boost highway construction funding

Jan. 19, 2012, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

The Ohio Department of Transportation needs more money if it’s going to put a dent in the list of necessary construction projects around Ohio, state officials say.

On Tuesday the department issued a list of projects that it currently has the means to fund — and it painted a dismal picture, with some projects delayed for nearly a generation.

“If Ohioans are saying, ‘We can’t live with that,’ we have to come up with additional revenue for construction projects,” said state Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark.

State pushes back funding for major road projects

Jan. 18, 2012, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

It will take Ohio until 2036 to complete its top priority transportation projects.

As for the construction dates on second-priority projects, which include efforts in Licking, Pickaway and Marion counties?

“After that,” said Steve Faulkner, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The Ohio Department of Transportation on Tuesday released the Transportation Review Advisory Council's draft list of projects to be funded starting in 2013. The list is much shorter than previous versions.

Sweet home far away from work

Mar. 6, 2011, Marion Star

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

MARION — Jessica Abrams has a job she enjoys.

But to maintain gainful employment, she spends two hours in her car each day. She doesn’t want to move from Marion to Columbus.

The cost of living is lower where she lives, and she prefers the school system. But it puts a strain on her family.

“I don’t think I could find a job here making the kind of money that I do now, but I hope to eventually,” said Abrams, 31.

The average commute for Ohio workers has increased from 20 minutes in 1990 to 22.6 minutes in the past five years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

It doesn’t sound like much on the surface, but that amounts to an additional 21 hours in the car each year.