A Sign of Compromise?

I continue to be an advocate for sensible signage and a single highway number to identify the highway corridor that runs like a mostly four-lane ribbon from Columbus to Steubenville. A piece written a year ago was my attempt to keep the discussion alive.

At one time, ODOT's Central Office informally had approved a change to see the numbered State Route 161 adopted for the whole stretch that right now includes the six numbers of SR161, SR37, SR16, US36, US250, and US22.  It was an estimate claiming the cost to install the signs was $1 million that killed it.

For a few weeks now, though, I've seen signs of a compromise.  Literally.

I'm not sure where they start, where it ends, or for what purpose they've been erected, but the photo above has one of a series of signs labeling the roadway "ALT East I-70."

I can verify seeing my first version of the sign at I-270 and SR161.  I saw several along 161 even ones along the SR37 stretch and this one just before the highway becomes SR16.

It's a start.

Pragmatism Winning Out

The Newark Advocate ran a story Sunday that continues, two days now, to be the top website story.  It's a story about a guy who had his family home taken by eminent domain for the construction of a four-lane highway.

He has protested that action with a sign "ODOT SUCKS" posted on his house ever since.  People drive by it, in droves, every day.

Eminent domain is one of those hot button issues that stirs a lot of people up.  Thus, one would have predicted the online comments to be more leaning toward this guy than toward the highway and the state agency, ODOT, which took his property.

That's not the case, though.  Pragmatism is winning out instead.  Believe it or not.

The comment with the most "likes" as I type this is the one that remarked, "Ok, if we didn't build roads because they went through private property, then we would still be driving on small little roads that were started by horse and wagon."

The second most "likes" on a comment was for the person who coached, "It is time to get over it an move on."

The highway has been good for Licking County and, in time, will pay economic dividends much greater than the cost of the project.  Those people who lost land (and homes) are to be commended for their personal sacrifice. Sometimes government has to do what is necessary for the common good, though.  This was clearly one of those times.

I'm glad to see pragmatism won.

Three Years Ago Today: 161 Opened with Lingering Questions

Today marks three years to the day since the formal opening ceremony for the section of St. Rt. 161 from New Albany to Granville. 

I wrote back then about lingering questions that remained unanswered in 2010.  They remain unanswered today, but there's no less hope that they will get answered.

I asked, "Will the Cherry Valley Interchange get designed and built this decade?"

The answer is increasingly looking like "yes."  Using Congressman Pat Tiberi's long-standing earmark and ODOT's own excellent in-house engineering team at ODOT District 5, the design is nearly done.

The interchange missed many opportunities to get funded in the federal Stimulus, but it remains a top project in state rankings.  Improving state highway revenues coupled with a completed design makes its chances brighter for happening this decade.

I also asked, "Can't ODOT find a better number and name for this highway corridor than the current collection of routes known as SR161/SR37/SR16/US36/US250/US22?"

This concept has had strange stagnation in ODOT with the cost of signage remaining the reason given.  That otherwise seemingly valid reason ends up sounding strange considering the recent move to 70 MPH on certain highway sections was never apparently looked at with costs of signage as an issue. 

So, the answer is, "Yes, ODOT can."  However, the answer to the follow up question, "Will ODOT do it?" remains a likely, "Not anytime soon."

Lastly, I pondered three years ago, "Will there be a state leader emerge who sees the value of connecting the markets of Columbus and Pittsburgh in a way that a two-lane tunnel at Wheeling, West Virginia can't do and who champions finishing the unfinished business east along the highway corridor?"

Having a Governor living in Columbus with roots in Pittsburgh gives a glimmer of hope.  The studies that look at this project can't help but consider the recent economic past of Eastern Ohio as a predictor of the future and if the studies' outcomes remains the driving force it will be a very, very, very long time.  It's going to take leadership and a vision for the future of this region to push it.

The oil and gas boom happening along this Corridor, though, could hold the key to revival of this concept.  Here's hoping the issue remains alive just enough that should the opportunity present itself that a leader can't take the platform to push this project forward.

It's only been three years after all.

Issue Update: Signs for Route 161

I'm updating past issues on occasion over the next few days.

Today, it's new signs for the highway currently known as 161/37/16/36/250/22.  I've written on this topic many times as the link to the search shows.  The issue is:  Why not change all these numbers for one highway from Columbus to the Ohio River to just one number?

Turns out I haven't written about the topic, though, since January 2011. 

That doesn't mean I've given up.  To the contrary, I've continued to bring it up to ODOT officials when given the audience.  The stock answer is that a to-the-book adoption of the new, single number could cost $1 million to implement.

Of course, that answer is a deflection.  Any advancement toward adopting single number signage starts with adopting the single number.  That step has not, yet, been taken either.

I'll keep asking.

I Had to Ask

Just sharing a funny story.

Invited to a "final administration briefing" at ODOT's HQ on Monday, I was too intrigued to not attend.  Turns out the meeting was to focus on maritime port authorities.  I, and representatives of other land-locked port authorities, didn't learn that until we were already seated. Though we have a small creek behind my Port Authority offices, no one should confuse us with a port that owns harbor frontage.

Needless to say, I felt a little out of place.  A joke about major flooding to convert us to a maritime port didn't help break the ice much either.

So, even though I should have kept my mouth shut and just listened, I couldn't help myself.  I talked about what could be done by ODOT's Director. . .

. . .in the remaining one week of her term in office.

I had to ask.  Could she fix the numbering issue on the highway known as 161/37/16/36/250/22?

Having worked for state government myself and being mildly acquainted with the powers of cabinet members, I knew she "could."  The real question, would she, remains to be answered.

Extending the name 161 across this entire stretch takes merely an act of the ODOT Director.  Stroke of the pen.  Her successor, Licking County's Jerry Wray, could figure out how to get the signs and maps updated over time.

I and others have, politely, asked for this before and just can't seem to get anywhere.  One number would help marketing.  One number would help safety forces.  One number just makes plain common sense.

ODOT's own p.r. piece uses just 161

Seems that numbering request, fulfilled, would make the "Foundation for Transformation" piece handed out as a surviving documentation of the Strickland Administration years at ODOT more right too.

Maybe that will be persuasive.

See Page 9.  It reads:  "During the past four years, ODOT completed construction of. . .major sections of State Route 161 from Franklin County into Licking County.

What?  Seems the ODOT p.r. machine decided to drop all those silly other numbers too.

To be fair, the construction pieces were just merely three numbers--161, 37, and 16.  Still, if the Strickland Administration major achievements piece uses one number, why can't the ODOT director get out her pen and make it so?

I had another request too written on the back of my business card when I realized that I had an audience for change but with just one week for action.

That's for another blog though.

Garmin Gets It Right By Getting it Wrong

My wife's Garmin gets it.

Her Garmin doesn't yet know there's a new four-lane highway between New Albany and Granville, but it does know by what number this highway we're driving on between New Albany and Granville should be numbered.

Having just left the highway formerly known as 161 that ODOT says is State Route 37, I noticed that Garmin had the wrong number.  It was right though.

Confused.

Garmin said I'm driving on Hwy 161.  Not confusing there.

Yes, that's what the number should be even if ODOT says it shouldn't.

ODOT says I'm driving on SR37 and about to drive on SR16, so, technically, Garmin is wrong.

Garmin's right for being wrong.

Now, I'm nearing the section where SR16 heads south and 37 has previously exited North.  ODOT says I'm now on 16.  Garmin gets it wrong by ODOT but right by the rest of us, again, and says I'm on Hwy161 E.

This is a confusing column I'm writing.  I know. 

Wouldn't it be great if we could end all this confusion? 

Imagine trying to explain this to an out-of-town CEO considering a major capital investment in our area.

Imagine your life depending on an EMS squad knowing where the heck you are located when you call 9-1-1.

Time for the multi-number Hwy 161/37/16/36/250/22, aka the Columbus-Pittsburgh Corridor, to be given one overlay number from Columbus to the Ohio River. 

Garmin gets it.  Call it Hwy 161.

A Victory for "Real" Smart Growth

Readers of this column know I consider so-called Smart Growth to, often, be an oxymoron in practice.  Some proponents favor no new highway capacity and preach "fix it first" as a mantra for highway departments.  That policy would, in my book, translate into stagnated government revenues and stagnated development.  And that's neither smart nor growth.

Thursday's official opening of new highway capacity from New Albany to Granville and another vital link on the Columbus-Pittsburgh Corridor is a victory for "real" smart growth.

New highway capacity along areas where wealth-building industrial development can occur means, in the future, increased revenue for governments.  Development will come to the new 161 extension for the benefit of Ohio and our region.

That's smart.  That's growth.

Lingering Questions

The newest leg of the highway otherwise known by the numbered routes 161/37/16/36/22 fully opens to traffic today and will see a formal ribbon cutting tomorrow, June 17.

This opening of 161/37/16 new piece opens up opportunities in the future. It also leaves some lingering questions.

Will the Cherry Valley Interchange, the last piece of this latest section and the piece that makes this safer route safe, get designed and built in this decade?

Can't ODOT find a better number and name for this
highway corridor than the current collection of routes known as SR161/SR37/SR16/US36/US22?

Will there be a state leader emerge who sees the value of connecting the markets of Columbus and Pittsburgh in a way that a two-lane tunnel at Wheeling, West Virginia can't do and who champions finishing the unfinished business east along the highway corridor?

I hope the answer to all three lingering questions is:  yes!

Good Weather Gives Taste for Ohio Route 161 Opening

Though its still a couple of months away, the Spring-like weather has one hoping for the opening of State Route 161's Phase II project from St. Albans Township to Granville (actually the newest leg of the multi-numbered route SR161/SR37/SR16/US36/US22).

ODOT District 5 and its contractor are back to work on the project that will open Central Licking County to commuters from Franklin County and vice versa.  It really is getting so close that you can taste it.

It makes one also hope for the other things that need to get done to truly finish the job.

ODOT District 5 now has the design of the Cherry Valley Interchange in its able hands.  District 5 has, historically, been among the best for this type of work. God speed, engineers!

It's really time that the SR161/SR37/SR16/US36/US22 highway get a single number.  State Route 161 makes sense.  Many agree.  None of the excuses I've heard for why this hasn't already happened stand up to scrutiny in my book.

Most vital, some day, is when the highway is completed all the way east.  This soon-to-open segment will be an important leg of the Columbus-Pittsburgh Corridor too.

Yes, good weather gives us a taste for things to come in the future.  Yes, indeed.