MAHONING VALLEY Ribbon-cutting ceremony held for new interchange

State and local officials touted the benefits of the interchange.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
FOWLER -- The new interchange between state Route 11 and King Graves Road will speed up industrial development near Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and help the airport take off as a cargo and passenger hub, officials said at opening ceremonies.
"The Mahoning Valley now has an important tool to be a player in the global economy," Gov. Bob Taft said Wednesday before cutting a ribbon suspended between two orange construction barrels.
"We anticipate in the near future more than 1,000 new jobs will be created in the Mahoning Valley."
The interchange, long on the wish list of local planners, allows easy access from Route 11 and Interstate 80 to the AeroPark Industrial Park and Youngstown Air Reserve Station, as well as the airport.
More business: Officials hope that better access will convince more companies to build near the airport and more people to choose to fly from there.
The number of passengers flying from the airport has declined precipitously since one of two remaining commercial carriers pulled out earlier this month.
"This interchange will have a tremendous impact on the airport, not only for the airport itself, but also for its surrounding industrial base," Vickie Allen Sherlock, Mahoning County commissioner, said in a brief address to assembled dignitaries.
That hope was echoed by Trumbull County Commissioner Joseph J. Angelo Jr.
"The vital link between business, politics and transportation has been completed," he said. "Now it is time to attract new businesses to the area and help expand our existing industry."
The $7 million highway interchange is one of the final phases of the airport's redevelopment plan, which also included more than $40 million in improvements to the airport's runway, hangars and terminal since 1998.