State Senator Larry Obhof (R–Medina) joined State Representative Mark Romanchuk (R–Ontario) and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor gathered on Monday to announce bridge improvement projects in Richland County that will be undertaken as part of a new initiative between the Ohio Department of Transportation and local governments.
“Retail government, that is what this is. That is what we are talking about here today,” said Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Director Jerry Wray as he addressed local and state officials who gathered in downtown Mansfield to discuss the Ohio Bridge Partnership program. Wray added,”The bridges we will be replacing over the next two years will benefit thousands, if not millions of people for decades to come.”
In a collaborative effort to strengthen Ohio infrastructure Gov. John Kaisich, Lt. Governor Mary Taylor, ODOT and local city and county engineers across Ohio began working this year to form a partnership that would bridge the gap between communities and local commerce.
What emerged from that partnership was the topic of discussion as local and state officials met in Mansfield. The discussion took place Monday afternoon at the R.C. Highway Garage located at 395 North Main Street.
The goal of the partnership was to help counties improve the condition of their bridges and make Ohio’s bridges safer across the state. The first-of-its-kind program developed by ODOT will invest approximately $120 million dollars in local bridges over the course of the next three years. Resources provided will assist counties and cities with the maintenance of bridges including bridge embankments, drainage repairs, and other related issues.
Overall, five projects in the 22nd Senate District have been selected for the first round of construction beginning in the spring of 2014. Three of the bridges to be replaced are in Richland County. These include 5 Points East over Brubaker Creek and two bridges on Pleasant Valley Road in Richland County. The program will also include projects on Township Road 1500 over Scott Run and Township Road 63 over a branch of the Muddy Fork in Ashland County.
The three projects in Richland County are among 40 (30 county and 10 municipal) projects chosen statewide to begin construction in the next year. It is expected that more than 200 structurally-deficient bridges will be repaired over the next three years. The program was initiated by a Senate amendment to the state budget, which added language providing for the study and repair of hazardous county bridges.
“During the time I have been county engineer we have made great progress with bridges in Richland County but we have not nearly completed the job. Richland County has 364 bridges that the county engineers are responsible for. Of the 364, we have replaced 220 bridges over the past 24 years,” stated Beck. “Despite the tremendous progress we have been able to make, we still have 44 bridges that need to be replaced in the near future without means for funding.
“This new cooperative program is the biggest financial help in replacing deteriorated and even closed bridges on the county and municipal road systems all over the state. This is a wonderful program that will tremendously help so many of the underfunded county engineering departments.”
ODOT will work with local officials to determine which bridges will be repaired or replaced using the following criteria; the bridges must meet the federal bridge definition of being more than 20 feet long, the bridge must be “structurally deficient”-an engineering term given to bridges having maintenance issues that, while safe, still require repair and lastly the bridge must currently be open and carrying traffic.
Senator Larry Obhof stated, “This program shows that we are being proactive here in Ohio. This program can only be described as innovative, collaborative and great teamwork.”
Lt. Governor Mary Taylor commented on the importance of the partnership and support of the legislation that enabled the project to come to fruition. Taylor spoke of “the dramatic need” across Ohio stating that there are more than 44 thousand bridges across the state and that number was second only to Texas.
“Many local counties and municipalities don’t have the funds to address these needs, the Bridge Partnership is the right way to approach this. This is good for the economy and good for job creation,” said Taylor.
“This new cooperative program is the biggest financial help in replacing deteriorated and even closed bridges on the county and municipal road systems all over the state. This is a wonderful program that will tremendously help so many of the underfunded county engineering departments,” said Richland County Engineer Tom Beck.
