Officials seek input on Rte. 62

Plans for a new stretch of Route 62 have been discussed for decades.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
SEBRING -- Ohio Department of Transportation District 4 officials want local residents to tell them where a new stretch of U.S. Route 62 through Stark, Mahoning and Columbiana counties should go.
Local residents, who have been hearing about the planned highway for more than 50 years, just want to know if the highway ever will be built.
ODOT officials had a public meeting Thursday at Copeland Oaks Retirement Community, but they don't yet know if the new highway will be funded. They said their study is part of making a case for state and federal funding, with the first design phase about two years away.
The area under study is a 22-mile stretch of current Route 62 and state Route 14 from just west of Alliance to just west of Columbiana.
The proposed new highway would begin in Stark County north of Alliance in Lexington Township, connecting to what locals know as Route 62 just west of state Route 225 near Bolton.
It would continue east into Mahoning County through Smith Township north of Sebring, Goshen Township, connecting to the current U.S. Route 62 bypass in Perry Township in Columbiana County, north of Salem. It would then turn back into Mahoning County through Green and Beaver townships, connecting to the four-lane state Route 11 northwest of Columbiana.
Quotable
Merle Stewart, a retired East Palestine fire chief, said ODOT would make a grave error if the new highway ends with a Route 11 connection.
"It's just another 14 miles to the Pennsylvania line and [Pennsylvania] Route 51," he said. Route 51 is a four-lane that provides a direct route to Pittsburgh, he added.
Paul Jaeger, technical director for the Stark County Area Transportation Study, stressed that local residents' desires will impact decision making, and whether funding is approved to build a new road or to just make improvements to the current highway.
"People in Alliance and Sebring have been banking on this new road going through north of them," Jaeger said. "It's a matter of showing ODOT that the project is for economic development, not just for improvement of traffic flow. The economic development of Alliance, Sebring and Salem will not be served by only fixing up a few intersections."
State Rep. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-61st, said U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, and U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula of Canton, R-16th, worked hard to get money earmarked for the project. Strickland secured $1 million and Regula $2 million, he said.
Criteria
Boccieri said the criteria for selecting projects for funding must change, and that's a decision lawmakers would have to legislate.
He said the criteria used by the Transportation Review Advisory Council, based mostly on population and traffic flow, favors Ohio's largest cities. He noted, however, the Mahoning Valley has a friend on TRAC in Patrick Ungaro, former Youngstown mayor and current Liberty Township administrator.
Boccieri said Ungaro is well aware of the Route 62 corridor and the communities' needs. The new road will mean economic development to the area, he said.
"There are people's lives and property hanging in the balance," he said. "They need a decision to be made, a line drawn."
Boccieri said the project needs to go forward or go away.
The next public meeting will take place by the end of the year. ODOT officials want to collect input for this phase by Jan. 24.
tullis@vindy.com