Town hall meeting about Ohio Turnpike - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Town hall meeting about Ohio Turnpike

Its being called the jewel of Northern Ohio, but the future of the Ohio Turnpike is a little foggy.  Last year, Governor John Kasich started exploring the idea of leasing the 241 mile toll road.  The billions of dollars the lease deal would bring in, would likely go towards road and other infrastructure projects.

Rick Hodges, the Executive Director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission said, "nobody ever started or ended their journey on the turnpike.  We all us county roads and everything else to get around and we have to find a way to pay for it."

"What we're looking at is what are our options to try and leverage that asset to benefit transportation in Northern Ohio," Jerry Wray, the Director of ODOT said.

But some, like Karen Rothman are critical.

"We pay for it, I pay for it out of my tax dollars.  I'm willing to do that to maintain the level of service and safety that it has," she said.

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur calls the idea the Governor's flawed solution.

"He's zoning in on the one part of Ohio that's paid its own way and has something to show for it," she said.

Despite the opposition, the turnpike commission and ODOT insist the final decision will be sensitive to employees, the drivers, and their wallets.