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'Energy Corridor' Fuels Drive for Route 30 Upgrades
SALEM, Ohio -- Upgrades to U.S. Route 30 east of Canton must be made to accommodate the booming oil and gas industry in the region, says Columbiana County Engineer Bert Dawson.
Dawson will testify on the project’s behalf at a regional meeting in June as he continues to press his case with the Ohio Department of Transportation, he told attendees at the Columbiana County “Teaming 4 Success” Economic Development Summit. The event, held Monday at the Salem Community Center, was presented by the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center and the Columbiana County Area Chambers of Commerce.
“Everyone knows the need for Route 30 [improvements],” Dawson said, which he described as “very accident prone.” The stretch from Ohio’s eastern border to Canton is the only stretch of the roadway, which runs to Chicago, that is not a four-lane highway. The project has been on ODOT's Transportation Review Advisory Council's funding list “several times and keeps getting kicked off,” he said.
Dawson is promoting the project as the "Route 30 energy corridor." In politics, he remarked, “You have to have a spin on almost everything.”
He likened the transformative potential of the industry here to the technological revolution associated with the U.S. space program and the innovations that accompanied it.
“We have to prepare in a similar way that the same thing may happen as an outgrowth of the oil and gas,” Dawson said. “It’s going to change our country. It’s certainly going to change northeastern Ohio.”
ODOT has estimated the Route 30 project could cost $850 million to $875 million, although a study requested by the company that made similar improvements elsewhere estimated the cost at around $650 million. Project proponents are exploring the possibility of placing a toll on the road and seeking a proportionate share of the $1.5 billion Gov. John Kasich expects to generate by issuing bonds based on Ohio Turnpike revenues to be used for road projects.
“If the tolls cover $475 million and we and get $120 million from the turnpike money” and can get funds from the state severance tax on oil and gas, “this just may be feasible to do,” Dawson said.
ODOT currently envisions a two-lane highway known as a super-two, which would require the purchase of rights-of-way to accommodate a four-lane highway. “Two years from now, when the expected preliminary work is done, we would know whether we needed a four-lane or two-lane because the oil and gas will have developed that much by then,” Dawson said. If studies and construction are done on an expedited basis, “We’re probably looking at five [years] at absolute best."
Salem Mayor John Berlin told the Summit audience he is encouraged by the potential growth in the manufacturing sector due to oil and gas activity. The city was informed that 28 acres of city-owned land leased by Chesapeake Energy will be part of a drilling operation that could produce royalties, he reported.
“Of course, the oil and gas activity in Columbiana County brings a renewed optimism for our city residents to find good-paying jobs to support their families,” Berlin added. “I field questions constantly with requests for information regarding tax rates, incentives, available properties, warehouse space and location of utilities.”
The mayor noted that the city, chamber of commerce and Sustainable Opportunity Development Center are seeking a state grant to develop a web-based product that would provide information on available incentives and properties. A joint application was submitted last week to the Appalachian Regional Commission for a new sanitary sewer line to run underneath the Norfolk Southern rail line that would serve industrially zoned areas.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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