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Ohio
Department of Transportation...
ODOT
Launches Division to Identify Potential Transportation Funding Solutions
Billions of
dollars could be generated or saved in the coming years
COLUMBUS
(Tuesday, March 20, 2012) – By reducing agency costs, commercializing
non-interstate rest areas and seeking sponsorship and naming rights for
certain
infrastructure projects, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)
could
save nearly $200 million annually and billions more could be generated
or saved
by leveraging state-owned assets and exploring public, private
partnerships.
ODOT
Director Jerry Wray today officially announced the Division of
Innovative
Delivery, a move he says is critical to identifying innovative and
alternative
funding solutions and advancing the agency’s goal developing long-term,
sustainable solutions to fund future transportation construction
projects.
“ODOT
shares the desire of many communities to get local transportation
projects
finished more timely, but our current funding situation simply will not
allow
it,” said Wray. “All of our projects are high priority. They all
involve some
component of economic development, congestion relief and safety. That is why it is crucial
to come together as
policy leaders and seek out innovative and alternative funding
solutions in the
days, months and years to come.”
ODOT
recently hired Jim Riley to lead the department’s Division of
Innovative
Delivery. Riley comes to ODOT with more than 23 years of private sector
experience, where he worked to develop innovative and sustainable
funding
solutions for major transportation projects in Ohio, Virginia, Texas,
Illinois,
and Georgia.
The
division is currently researching and developing alternative funding
solutions
for financing the construction of several different transportation
projects in
Ohio, which include:
• The Brent
Spence Bridge on the Ohio River from Cincinnati to Northern Kentucky
• The
Portsmouth Bypass in Scioto County
• The
Rickenbacker Intermodal Connector in Pickaway County
• An
interchange for U.S. Route 36 and State Route 37 on Interstate 71 in
Delaware
County
The
division will also seek to identify and generate potential alternative
funding
sources from state assets, such as:
• The Ohio
Turnpike
•
Non-Interstate rest areas
• A
sponsorship program for state-owned assets such as rest areas, bridges,
interchanges and sections of highway
A complete review of all transportation
projects is currently underway to identify those that could be
potential
candidates for public/private partnerships (P3’s), as well as
additional
sources of revenue to aid in the funding of major transportation
projects
throughout the state. Details of the review are expected later this
year.
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