Regional groups urged to spend on Ohio roadwork

State transportation officials estimate that 17 planning agencies had unspent funding totaling nearly $170 million during last fiscal year.

The Associated Press

6/18/2012

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's transportation department is proposing a rule to force regional planning agencies to spend more on needed highway projects instead of stockpiling millions of dollars in federal funding.

The state has too many aging and congested highways to hold back money that's supposed to go toward fixing them, said Jerry Wray, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation. Some highway projects across the state now face delays of as long as 13 years, Wray said.

The state agency is proposing a requirement that the regional agencies spend 75 percent of their federal transportation funding by 2016 or risk having that money go to the state, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

State transportation officials estimate that 17 planning agencies had unspent funding totaling nearly $170 million during last fiscal year.

Across Ohio, regional agencies have spent less than 14 percent of the federal transportation money in their accounts over the past four years, using less than 8 percent — $14.4 million of $184.3 million available — in fiscal 2011.

"We're asking all our partners to step up," Wray said. "We're encouraging them to be more productive."

Leaders of the regional agencies, called metropolitan planning organizations, said they sometimes stockpile funds to pay for future projects or are left with unspent cash because of lower-than-expected bids and unforeseen delays.

Don Spang, executive director of the Dayton-based Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and president of the Ohio Association of Regional Councils, said the regional agencies helped write the proposed change. But he acknowledges that it would take away from flexibility.

The federal money, which comes from federal gasoline taxes and passes through the state, is directed toward local roadwork, mass transit and efforts to reduce traffic congestion.

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, which includes Columbus and 43 other local governments in 12 central Ohio counties, ended fiscal 2011 with $8.4 million in reserve. That was one of the lowest totals in the state, according to the newspaper.

The Mid-Ohio commission has ended the past four years with an average of almost $8 million in unspent funds, which don't accumulate, but rather represent an ongoing balance, said the commission's principal engineer, Nathaniel Vogt.

Wray has said the planning agencies need to contribute more money toward work in their region as the state deals with declining budgets and rising costs.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at kevinj@thetrucker.com.

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