Feds yank funds for Turnpike privatization study

WASHINGTON

The U.S. Department of Transportation has revoked federal funding from Ohio used to study the possible privatization of the Ohio Turnpike.

The decision came after U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, along with a handful of other legislators, sent a letter to Secretary of Transporation Ray LaHood questioning the use of $1.5 million federal funds from a planning and research program to fund a contractor advising the state about turnpike financing.

The U.S. Department of Transportation held a conference call with participants from the offices of Reps. Ryan, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Marcia Fudge, Betty Sutton, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Avon.

“I am absolutely opposed to the State of Ohio’s misguided attempt to misuse these federal funds for its radical plan to privatize the Ohio Turnpike,” Ryan said in a statement Friday morning. “It’s disappointing that during this rush to privatize the Turnpike, the State attempted to misuse these federal funds for a plan that could potentially cost drivers through significantly increased tolls, threaten the job security of over 1,000 Ohioans, and drive up costs for local governments through increased maintenance costs for local roads.”