Thursday, March 24, 2011

There's a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt

Here comes the national attention. As to the last comment by ODOT's Townley, my response is available at:
 
Thursday, March 24, 2011
There's a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt
by Angie Schmitt on March 24, 2011
 
First there was the killing of 3C Rail. Now the Cincinnati streetcar is being led out to pasture. The way transportation projects are unfolding in Ohio, you'd almost think an asphalt industry veteran was heading up the state Department of Transportation.
 
Sadly, you'd be right. ODOT Director Jerry Wray, Ohio's "Asphalt Sheriff," is currently presiding over the committee that will determine the fate of the Cincinnati streetcar. The Transportation Review Advisory Council was established by Wray himself in a previous stint at ODOT in 1997 in order to — this is funny — remove politics from transportation funding decisions. Between sessions at ODOT, Wray kept himself busy working as an asphalt industry lobbyist.
Wray and TRAC members met yesterday to review the state's 2011-2015 major projects list. The meeting resulted in a recommendation of $98 million in cuts, and wouldn't you know it, transit projects bore the brunt of the damage.
...When pressed for more reasons behind cutting streetcar funding for Cincinnati, Townley later replied, "because there is already a bus system in place in Cincinnati that services the same area, we don't see why rail is really necessary."
 
 
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Ken Prendergast
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org
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