Ohio defends payment plan on bridge project

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohio's highway agency today defended its plan to award up to $1 million apiece to two bidders that submit designs for a major new bridge in Cleveland but don't win the contract, payments questioned by a government watchdog.

The payments will increase competition and result in high-quality design proposals, said Transportation Director Jolene Molitoris, responding to an April report by Inspector General Thomas Charles that questioned whether the plan was legal, justified and fiscally prudent. The highway agency had 60 days to respond.

It would mark the first time that Ohio has offered such incentives on this type of large-scale project. Other states, including Florida and Minnesota, have made similar payments.