Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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ODOT's new leader finds budget tighter than in '90s tenure
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2011
BY ROBERT VITALE
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The last time Jerry Wray ran the Ohio Department of Transportation, a booming economy was putting more people to work, more gasoline into our tanks and more gas-tax money into highway construction.
With his appointment to another tour of duty by Gov. John Kasich, Wray has returned to an ODOT much different from the one he left in 1999.
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Ohio House puts $7 billion in transit budget
FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011
BY JIM SIEGEL
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The Ohio House yesterday unanimously approved a $7 billion transportation budget that no longer includes a $10 title-fee increase that the Kasich administration proposed to help fund the State Highway Patrol.
KingLincolnUrbanEnthusiast
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CU Folks - divide the payroll by the employees for 1991 and 2011 and you will see that the average wage has increased to $85K per employee per year - welcome to a public employee union and a tax payer screwing!
Baker
Italian Village
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KingLincolnUrbanEnthusiast wrote >>
CU Folks - divide the payroll by the employees for 1991 and 2011 and you will see that the average wage has increased to $85K per employee per year - welcome to a public employee union and a tax payer screwing!
Payroll consists of a lot more than just a worker's salary. It also consists of the federal income taxes that the employer pays per employee, FICA, health insurance, unemployment insurance, benefits, etc. All of that stuff combined accounts for a large portion of an entity's payroll. I'm not sure how much this differs for a state payroll versus private sector but {total payroll} / {number of employees} does not equal average wage. It is not that simple.
ehill27
Short North
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KingLincolnUrbanEnthusiast wrote >>
CU Folks - divide the payroll by the employees for 1991 and 2011 and you will see that the average wage has increased to $85K per employee per year - welcome to a public employee union and a tax payer screwing!
You seem to live in some alternate universe of fat-cat government workers.
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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There’s a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt
by Angie Schmitt on March 24, 2011
First there was the killing of 3C Rail. Now the Cincinnati streetcar is being led out to pasture. The way transportation projects are unfolding in Ohio, you’d almost think an asphalt industry veteran was heading up the state Department of Transportation.
Sadly, you’d be right. ODOT Director Jerry Wray, Ohio’s “Asphalt Sheriff,†is currently presiding over the committee that will determine the fate of the Cincinnati streetcar. The Transportation Review Advisory Council was established by Wray himself in a previous stint at ODOT in 1997 in order to  this is funny  remove politics from transportation funding decisions. Between sessions at ODOT, Wray kept himself busy working as an asphalt industry lobbyist.
READ MORE: http://streetsblog.net/2011/03/24/theres-a-new-sheriff-at-ohio-dot-and-he-likes-asphalt/
labi
Weinland Park
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Walker wrote >>
There’s a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt
by Angie Schmitt on March 24, 2011
First there was the killing of 3C Rail. Now the Cincinnati streetcar is being led out to pasture. The way transportation projects are unfolding in Ohio, you’d almost think an asphalt industry veteran was heading up the state Department of Transportation.
Sadly, you’d be right. ODOT Director Jerry Wray, Ohio’s “Asphalt Sheriff,†is currently presiding over the committee that will determine the fate of the Cincinnati streetcar. The Transportation Review Advisory Council was established by Wray himself in a previous stint at ODOT in 1997 in order to  this is funny  remove politics from transportation funding decisions. Between sessions at ODOT, Wray kept himself busy working as an asphalt industry lobbyist.
READ MORE: http://streetsblog.net/2011/03/24/theres-a-new-sheriff-at-ohio-dot-and-he-likes-asphalt/
ARGGGGGH. WHY does our state have to go back to 1950??? I just can't stand it.
Pablo
Crestview Addition
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It kind of seems like they're somehow out for revenge. According to ODOT's TRAC draft, the Phase 1 of the 70/71 split would get $220,900,000.00 while the Cincinnati Streetcar was allocated $15,000,000.00. A comparable project, dollar wise, would be $15,600,000.00 for interchange improvements (not a new interchange) in West Carrollton on I-75. Looking at these figures, transit projects look pretty cheap. Yeah, more people will drive on the short stretch of 70/71 than will initially ride Cincinnati's streetcar so maybe it is more cost effective to do road projects - but there are a ton of road projects on this list. I only found two transit projects.
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/trac/Documents/2011%20Draft%20TRAC%20List%20(December%209,%202010).pdf
rus
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labi wrote >>
Walker wrote >>
There’s a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt
by Angie Schmitt on March 24, 2011
First there was the killing of 3C Rail. Now the Cincinnati streetcar is being led out to pasture. The way transportation projects are unfolding in Ohio, you’d almost think an asphalt industry veteran was heading up the state Department of Transportation.
Sadly, you’d be right. ODOT Director Jerry Wray, Ohio’s “Asphalt Sheriff,†is currently presiding over the committee that will determine the fate of the Cincinnati streetcar. The Transportation Review Advisory Council was established by Wray himself in a previous stint at ODOT in 1997 in order to  this is funny  remove politics from transportation funding decisions. Between sessions at ODOT, Wray kept himself busy working as an asphalt industry lobbyist.
READ MORE: http://streetsblog.net/2011/03/24/theres-a-new-sheriff-at-ohio-dot-and-he-likes-asphalt/ARGGGGGH. WHY does our state have to go back to 1950??? I just can't stand it.
Yeah! Why can't we go back to 1900 for trains, street cars...
... wait...
;-)
futureman
Grandview Heights
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I'm going on a hunch the 1950's comment was is in reference to the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 which authorized the use creation of 41,000 miles of highway.
So yes, it is like the 50's again. Rail is once again pushed to the sideline as the focus (which never left) goes back to roads.
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Kasich signs transportation budget
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
BY JOE VARDON
The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed into law a $6.8 billion transportation budget today that includes the authority for the state to partner with the private sector on projects.
futureman
Grandview Heights
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Looks like mass transit isn't the only casualty in ODOT's budget...
For better or worse the 70/71 rebuild appears to safe, including all five phases.
ODOT to shelve some projects
FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2011 03:04 AM
BY ROBERT VITALE
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The Ohio Department of Transportation said it can afford $1 billion for highway planning during the next eight years, but it has $10.3 billion worth of projects in the planning stage.
As a result, many of those projects could be moved off the priority list, Director Jerry Wray said yesterday.
"Local leaders around the state can expect to hear some yeses, some maybes and - for the first time in a long time - some nos. The money is not there," Wray said at the annual State of the Region luncheon hosted by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
Some local governments also will have to pay more for their share than they had expected.
Scaling back highway projects won't affect the massive, multiyear reconstruction of I-70/71 through Downtown, Wray said after his speech. That work is scheduled to begin late this summer at the interchange of I-71 and I-670, on Downtown's northeastern edge.
Five phases of I-70/71 reconstruction are among the state's top-tier projects, for which construction money has been committed.
labi
Weinland Park
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rus wrote >>
labi wrote >>
Walker wrote >>
There’s a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt
by Angie Schmitt on March 24, 2011
First there was the killing of 3C Rail. Now the Cincinnati streetcar is being led out to pasture. The way transportation projects are unfolding in Ohio, you’d almost think an asphalt industry veteran was heading up the state Department of Transportation.
Sadly, you’d be right. ODOT Director Jerry Wray, Ohio’s “Asphalt Sheriff,†is currently presiding over the committee that will determine the fate of the Cincinnati streetcar. The Transportation Review Advisory Council was established by Wray himself in a previous stint at ODOT in 1997 in order to  this is funny  remove politics from transportation funding decisions. Between sessions at ODOT, Wray kept himself busy working as an asphalt industry lobbyist.
READ MORE: http://streetsblog.net/2011/03/24/theres-a-new-sheriff-at-ohio-dot-and-he-likes-asphalt/ARGGGGGH. WHY does our state have to go back to 1950??? I just can't stand it.
Yeah! Why can't we go back to 1900 for trains, street cars...
Yes, that quaint time when we still had an ozone layer.
rus
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labi wrote >>
rus wrote >>
labi wrote >>
Walker wrote >>
There’s a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt
by Angie Schmitt on March 24, 2011
First there was the killing of 3C Rail. Now the Cincinnati streetcar is being led out to pasture. The way transportation projects are unfolding in Ohio, you’d almost think an asphalt industry veteran was heading up the state Department of Transportation.
Sadly, you’d be right. ODOT Director Jerry Wray, Ohio’s “Asphalt Sheriff,†is currently presiding over the committee that will determine the fate of the Cincinnati streetcar. The Transportation Review Advisory Council was established by Wray himself in a previous stint at ODOT in 1997 in order to  this is funny  remove politics from transportation funding decisions. Between sessions at ODOT, Wray kept himself busy working as an asphalt industry lobbyist.
READ MORE: http://streetsblog.net/2011/03/24/theres-a-new-sheriff-at-ohio-dot-and-he-likes-asphalt/ARGGGGGH. WHY does our state have to go back to 1950??? I just can't stand it.
Yeah! Why can't we go back to 1900 for trains, street cars...
Yes, that quaint time when we still had an ozone layer.
And life expectancy was about 47... truly, a glorious time.
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Will ODOT Projects Hit The Brakes?
By DENISE YOST
Published: April 22, 2011
A money problem for ODOT could mean some projects planned in the future are put back on the shelf. There is a wish list for the department that totals about $10 billion. The problem is that it has projected that the department can only afford to spend $1 billion.
When ODOT starts to put together a wish list of projects, a small group of nine officials called the Transportation Review and Advisory Council shapes what gets the green light and what is rejected.
READ MORE: http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/apr/22/will-odot-projects-hit-brakes-ar-462730/
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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ODOT director: Road project money drying up
By JOE WILLIAMS
Published: Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wray said current Tier One highway projects in Ohio are programmed at 60 percent above available funding. Tier Two projects are overprogrammed by more than 1,100 percent, he said during the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission's State of the Region luncheon Thursday, April 21, in the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
READ MORE: http://www.snponline.com/articles/2011/04/27/multiple_papers/news/alltranspo_20110426_1102pm_2.txt
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Columbus Underground
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Stimulus money gone; highway fund may be next
By Jessica Wehrman
The Columbus Dispatch Monday August 29, 2011 7:09 AM
WASHINGTON — When it became law in 2009, the massive $787 billion economic stimulus promised to help pull the economy out of its slump by injecting a flood of federal dollars into states struggling to stay afloat.
But two years later, many of the projects are winding down, the economy is still struggling and Congress is in yet another standoff — this one over how best to pay for future road projects.
READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/08/29/end-of-the-roadwork.html
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Columbus Underground
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Columbus Underground
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Federal funding cut could spell more trouble for ODOT
Business First by Adrian Burns, Staff reporter
Date: Thursday, January 26, 2012
Work on a federal transportation bill is set to begin again and anyone interested in infrastructure spending in Ohio should take notice. That’s because federal transportation money funds about 60 percent of Ohio Department of Transportation spending. Given that ODOT said it’s already pushing back projects in the state because of a funding shortage, things are dire.
READ MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2012/01/federal-funding-cut-could-spell-more.html
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