COLUMBIANA CO. Realignment of Route 30 is a priority

Funding hinges on $250 million from the federal government.
Ohio Department of Transportation District 4 and District 11 officials hope Gov. Bob Taft's Jobs and Progress plan will pave the way for relocation of a section of U.S. Route 30 through Stark and Columbiana counties.
Stark County is in ODOT District 4 and Columbiana County is in ODOT District 11.
In a recent press release, Taft's staffers billed the 10-year, $5-billion Jobs and Progress Plan as "the largest transportation initiative since the creation of Ohio's interstate system."
According to the press release, the Jobs and Progress Plan will generate about 4,000 highway construction jobs, ease freeway congestion, improve road safety and connect rural regions.
Goals of the plan are to improve high-congestion, high-crash areas on freeways, improving state bridges and pavement conditions and connecting all parts of Ohio by completing rural routes.
Becky McCarty, spokeswoman for ODOT District 11, said the state will have $250 million in revenue from the state gas tax, but state officials must persuade the federal government to deliver $250 million from the reauthorization of the transportation act and a federal energy bill. She said the reauthorization of the transportation act and a federal energy bill are now being considered by Congress.
Realignment
Paula Putnam, spokeswoman for ODOT District 4, said realignment of about 35 miles of U.S. Route 30 is a priority for District 4. Realignment would straighten some winding areas of Route 30 through Stark and Columbiana counties, and connect Route 30 in Columbiana County to the four-lane state Route 11 that runs from the Ohio River at East Liverpool north to Lake Erie at Ashtabula.
Putnam said the Transportation Review Advisory Council will have the final say on what projects are funded by the Jobs and Progress Plan.
The council will review projects and place them in rank order with the top priority project first, she said.
"We don't know how long the process will take, nor when funding will be available," she said. "We hope the Route 30 project will be seen as a priority. Our area is one of the most busy traffic areas in Ohio."
McCarty said a feasibility study is in progress for the Route 30 realignment, and environmental impact studies are under way for the areas where the highway may be rerouted.
She said officials want the safest, most economical route possible. She said neither the route of the realignment nor where Route 30 will connect to Route 11 have been decided.
"We want to be certain we put together a plan for a project that is doable," she said.