Ohio’s Department of Transportation Director Jerry
Wray announced that, in light of Congressional failure to do anything at all
about long term reauthorization of the federal Highway Trust Fund for the last
three years, his agency is considering indexing Ohio Turnpike tolls to inflation,
or leasing the 241 mile long highway to
private operators, as potential means of generating funds for the state’s
raidbuilding and other infrastructure construction needs. In his keynote
address to the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments on March 31, 2012,
Wray blamed Congressional inaction on the twin problems of declining fuel tax
revenues and state and local long term planning needs for unfrastructure construction budget pressures
in his state.
Besides toll indexing and leasing the Turnpike to a concessionaire,
Wray mentioned commercialization of rest areas, bridges and interchanges as an
additional revenue source which could provide between $100 million and $200
million annually. With the road construction bidding season opening this month,
the Ohio situation is merely the most recent fallout from Congressional foot
dragging on long term highway trust fund reauthorization legislation.
