MAHONING VALLEY ODOT won't extend deadline for Hubbard highway sponsor

A regional agency has called a meeting Monday to discuss the expressway.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- The Ohio Department of Transportation has rejected a request to extend its deadline to withdraw as the Hubbard Arterial Highway sponsor.
Unless another sponsor is found by Aug. 4, ODOT's District 4 in Ravenna has said it will close the proposed project, better known as the Hubbard Expressway.
John R. Getchey, executive director of the Eastgate Regional Council of Government, said he was informed Thursday that ODOT won't extend the deadline.
In a June 24 letter, ODOT said it was relinquishing its role because the cost of the 4-mile highway increased to $73 million and the state's focus is safety and eliminating congestion rather than aiding development.
The highway would connect Albert Street at Interstate 680 on Youngstown's East Side with Bell-Wick Road in Hubbard Township, opening the way to a connection with Interstate 80.
Loss or gain?
Getchey said Thursday that ODOT would not provide a reason why the state won't extend the deadline.
He suspects the state agency wants to close out the project by Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year.
The extension was sought, Getchey explained, to give Eastgate and the leaders of affected communities more time to determine if an entity can assume the leadership role.
Getchey and Kathleen Rodi, Eastgate's director of transportation, said there is $400,000 of an original $3.2 million in federal funds to complete the environmental documents that determine if the highway can be built.
They pointed out there also is $2.7 million in state funds earmarked for the final design.
If the proposed project is closed down by the state, it will lose the $400,000. In turn, the $2.7 million also goes away.
Patrick J. Ungaro, Liberty Township administrator and a member of the state's Transportation Review Advisory Council, will try to convince other council members that the project's environmental aspect should be completed. He will meet with them July 24.
Informational meeting
In addition, Getchey has scheduled a meeting of Eastgate's policy board and leaders of affected communities for 2 p.m. Monday at the agency's Austintown offices.
In his letter announcing the meeting, Getchey said a number of questions concerning ODOT's position and its effects on the community have been raised.
"This meeting is very important and will consist of a general discussion of the region's interest in continuing the project and the methods by which that can be done," Getchey wrote.
He pointed out that during a March 27 meeting, representatives of the affected communities "overwhelmingly supported efforts to continue studies, which would eventually lead to project construction."
yovich@vindy.com