Ohio highway department will undertake costliest project ever

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Ohio’s highway department is moving forward on what will be its most expensive project ever.

A planned 16-mile bypass around the southern Ohio city of Portsmouth is expected to cost nearly $430 million and will be financed through the Ohio Department of Transportation’s first public-private partnership.

An association called Portsmouth Gateway Group will build the bypass, and the state will pay for it over time through a 35-year contract.

The U.S. Department of Transportation last week announced a $209 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan for the highway last week.

The final cost to taxpayers hasn’t been determined yet as the highway department is still finalizing the financing.

Construction is to begin this summer and completed in 2019.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich likes the idea of public-private partnerships. He has said they will speed up highway and bridge work that otherwise wouldn’t happen for years because of a lack of government funding.

Supporters of the bypass around Portsmouth, a city of 20,000 that sits along the Ohio River, say it will bring economic development to an area where unemployment is high.