Valley legislators seek a shot at ODOT office here

YOUNGSTOWN -- State legislators from Mahoning and Trumbull counties are asking Ohio Department of Transportation officials to halt plans to move its district office from Ravenna to Akron.
The legislators want a chance to submit sites in the Mahoning Valley for ODOT's regional headquarters.
The legislators met Monday and drafted a letter that was to be sent today to ODOT Director Gordon Proctor and Mohamed Darwish, deputy director for ODOT District 4. District 4 provides services to Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage, Summit, Ashtabula and Stark counties.
State legislators from the Valley are asking state legislators who represent Ashtabula and Portage counties to send similar letters.
District 4 is based in Ravenna, but it is looking at a number of properties for relocation because its offices were heavily damaged in the summer floods.
The agency was looking exclusively in Portage County, but it is now leaning toward a former Federal Express call center in Coventry Township in Summit County, near Akron.
That location would make the district office farther away from the Mahoning Valley than its Ravenna site.