ODOT

Here are your morning headlines for Tuesday, August 18:

About 60,000 drivers pass through northern Summit County on Route 8 each day. For the past year, a $58 million reconstruction project has closed a third of the expressway. The roadwork was delayed last week, but is expected to begin Monday night.

The head of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) said the state is at a crossroads with policy on how to move people and products around safely and efficiently.

ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks says the 10.5 cent per gallon state gas tax increase will send an additional $370 million this year to local governments, and will help with 150 projects split in urban, suburban and rural areas. But that gas tax hike is just part of a change that’s coming, because it’s estimated that nearly all vehicles on the roads will be electric 25 years from now.

Travel officials are predicting this to be one of the busiest Thanksgiving weekends on the roads, and crews are taking that into account when it comes to construction projects.

AAA is predicting about 2.3 million Ohioans will be traveling further than 50 miles for the holiday. It hasn't been that busy since 2005.

And 89% of Ohio travelers will be on the roads.

The Ohio Department of Transportation's Matt Bruning said ODOT will suspend roadwork around the state.

Winter weather led to a major pile-up on route 8 in Hudson Tuesday. A state transportation department spokesman says a snow squall reduced visibility and led to the crash.

Matt Bruning says there’s little road crews can do in those instances. One thing he says that has been successful in Lake County is varying the speed limit in certain conditions. ODOT cut the speed limit to 30 mph on a section of I-90 during the storm Tuesday.

For the first time in several years, an Ohio Department of Transportation panel has voted to move forward on hundreds of millions of dollars in road construction projects, including one in Summit County. 

ODOT director Jack Marchbanks says the Transportation Review and Advisory Council, or TRAC, has nearly $400 million to spend thanks to the increase in the gas tax that took effect in July.

Ohio’s 10.5 cent gas tax increase from the state’s transportation budget has been in place for four months. And the director of the Ohio Department of Transportation says the money his agency fought lawmakers to get is already making a difference.

Jack Marchbanks says ODOT is on solid financial ground for the first time in years. The gas tax hike will bring in $820 million this fiscal year, and $3.2 billion over the next four years. But Marchbanks says the agency didn’t overshoot in asking for nearly twice that when it first proposed the gas tax increase.

Akron Metro RTA plans to use $3 million in grant funding from the State of Ohio for bus maintenance and bus stop improvements.

The money will also help Metro RTA fund new programs, including Flex Ride. The initiative aims to connect suburban job centers with workers in need of transportation. The program is expected to launch next year.

Metro RTA Planning Director Valarie Shay, says this money allows the organization the opportunity to do more with current budgets.

Ohio has been at the forefront of engineering self-driving cars. The state transportation department wants to hear what citizens have to say about the future of Ohio roads and highways. It’s hosting a public meeting Monday in Akron to gather ideas for improving the state’s transportation system over the next 25 years. ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning said they will show their plans and listen to the community.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is testing new technology aimed at stopping wrong-way crashes on the highway. Signs and detectors are being installed along an 18-mile stretch of Interstate 71 near Cincinnati.

ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning said the goal is to prevent wrong-way crashes.

“While they are extremely rare, they are usually very serious crashes that happen. So we know they are 40 times more likely to be deadly than other types of crashes,” he said.

The Ohio Department of Transportation says there were nearly 80,000 distracted driving crashes in the state in the last five years, killing at least 268 people and injuring more than 3,000. Gov. Mike DeWine is fighting back with a panel to make some policy recommendations based on a new report.

The first phase of construction on Howe  Avenue in Cuyahoga Falls starts Monday and businesses are preparing for a financial impact.

The project will replace the road near a popular business district that includes stores in Chapel Hill Plaza.

Only the eastbound lane will be closed, which means drivers can take an alternate route or use the frontage streets behind the businesses.

Roundabouts have been gaining popularity in Northeast Ohio over the past decade, even if the public doesn’t always consider them to be a well-rounded solution. 

A listener asked “OH Really?” to find out about the evidence that they're safer than traditional intersections. We looked into the circular logic to see if it is a better way to make traffic go-round.

Motorists may have to change their commutes to downtown Akron as the Ohio Department of Transportation completes a construction project in a busy area.

Starting Monday, the I-76 westbound to South Broadway ramp will be closed for two weeks as ODOT ties in a new ramp.

Mass transit advocates in Ohio got a huge surprise in the House version of the transportation budget – funding for public transportation soared by 150 percent over Gov. Mike DeWine’s original proposal. But they’re hoping the Senate will go along with that too.

The transportation budget approved by the House cut DeWine’s gas tax increase from 18 cents to 10.7 cents per gallon. And mass transit funding went from $40 million to $100 million.

Starting today, a stretch of road in Summit County – which was the scene of a major accident last week -- will have numerous lane closures over the next three years for a $58 million project.

The six-mile portion of Route 8 between Graham Road and Route 303 has not had a major resurfacing in more than a decade. One exit leads to a major shopping area, and the other to part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. About 50,000 cars travel the stretch of roadway every day. 

Gov. Mike DeWine will ask lawmakers this week to raise the state’s 28 cent a gallon gas tax, a recommendation from a committee he appointed. That increase would patch a hole of more than a billion dollars in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s budget. But DeWine won’t yet get specific on what he’ll ask for.

A panel of transportation experts is telling Gov. Mike DeWine that the best way to increase funding for road projects is to increase the gas tax. But their report doesn’t get specific.

The committee appointed by DeWine tallied five reasons why an increase to the gas tax is the best way to fill a funding gap. For instance, they say it’s efficient, the money can only be used for highway construction and related activities, and it’s fair because only drivers pay it.

Ohio’s top transportation official told state lawmakers that his agency is facing a billion-dollar shortfall, and that drivers could face serious dangers on roads and bridges. His testimony comes in advance of a report expected Friday that’s likely to recommend a gas tax increase.

Ohio Department of Transportation director Jack Marchbanks told the House Finance Committee that finding funding for new infrastructure projects and for existing maintenance isn’t a quick fix.