Regional groups urged to spend on Ohio roadwork

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s transportation department is proposing a rule to force regional planning agencies to spend more on needed highway projects instead of stockpiling millions of dollars in federal funding.

The state has too many aging and congested highways to hold back money that’s supposed to go toward fixing them, said Jerry Wray, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Some highway projects across the state now face delays of as long as 13 years, Wray said.

The state agency is proposing a requirement that the regional agencies spend 75 percent of their federal transportation funding by 2016 or risk having that money go to the state, The Columbus Dispatch reported.