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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > October > 19
Monday, October 19, 2009
Editorial: Dayton-Xenia ramps should stay open
If it follows its normal protocol, the Ohio Department of Transportation will close the partial interchange at Dayton-Xenia Road as part of an upcoming project to widen U.S. 35.
That’s a mistake. Greene County leaders and citizens who have raised objections are absolutely right. The good news is the state has the flexibility under its own rules to make a sensible exception.
The general rule for highway construction is to bring interchanges up to today’s standards anytime there is major remodeling of the nearby roadway. That’s the reason some of the smaller on and off ramps along Interstate 75 are being closed as part of its major renovation. The approach has worked well on the I-75 project.
In general, the feeling today is that highways should only have full interchanges, and that the partial interchanges create confusion and safety problems. The concern is valid.
At Dayton-Xenia Road, an off ramp from eastbound U.S. 35 requires quick deceleration to exit the highway, and the ramp’s close proximity to the interchange ramps for I-675 sometimes confuses drivers.
It’s not a perfect situation. Cars driving on Dayton-Xenia Road can merge onto U.S. 35 going west via an on ramp that also is very close to the I-675 interchange.
But closing the ramps creates new problems. Beavercreek officials say about 7,000 cars a day travel the Dayton-Xenia road ramps. Businesses along the route, and even farther along Dayton-Xenia Road on the east side of Beavercreek, depend on foot traffic from those vehicles. They could be hurt badly by the ramp closings.
If the ramps are closed, that decision also creates problems for drivers who need to come to Dayton from that area of Beavercreek. They’d either have to access U.S. 35 from much farther away or travel a long stretch of Linden Avenue until they reach the U.S. 35 interchange with Woodman Drive. That would increase traffic in front of Carroll High School, especially during morning rush hour, which could create a new safety concern.
A couple changes could resolve much of the safety problems with the ramps in question.
Better highway signs alerting drivers to the Dayton-Xenia Road exit and distinguishing it clearly from the I-675 ramps could reduce driver confusion. Widening the highway, coupled with a Bevercreek city project that will widen Dayton-Xenia Road and add a lane, should also make access going both ways smoother.
Construction won’t begin for several years. The transportation department has been doing its homework. It has held public meetings and solicited feedback on the plan and already has heard a lot of complaints.
It should heed the calls to leave the Dayton-Xenia ramps open.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Editorials, Scott Elliott, Suburban Communities, Transportation
Jennifer Brunner: Fixing residency laws could prevent confusion
As discussion continues to swirl about the decision of the Ohio Supreme Court on former House Speaker and Ohio Sen. Jon Husted’s residency, I offer more food for thought.
When I received the high court’s decision, I said: “Whether it’s a decision by a Democratic secretary of state or an all-Republican Supreme Court, someone will question the motivation behind such a decision.”
And precisely that has occurred.
Husted has called my decision on the Montgomery County Board of Elections’ tie vote on whether he could vote in his district a “witch hunt,” while Ohio GOP Chair Kevin DeWine has called me a “dimwit.” This is not how government is supposed to work, and it doesn’t benefit voters.
Here are the problems with the court’s decision, and here are things the Ohio legislature can do to change it.
As Husted said during the board of elections’ hearing: “… look, I’m a lawmaker. I can change a law anytime I want.”
• The court limited its decision on Husted’s residence to treating him as a Montgomery County resident for “election purposes.”
• The court mistakenly said the secretary of state canceled his voter registration, when the board had not yet taken action after my tie-breaking vote. Husted never lost his right to vote.
• The court simply ordered the board of elections to find that the state senator is a resident of Montgomery County in spite of all the evidence to the contrary and to keep his name on the county’s registration rolls.
• The court allowed only this state senator to have his case judged by a higher standard in determining his residency, then said that that standard could not be met because the law has conflicting sections. More troubling is that the court specifically declined to apply that higher standard to ordinary Ohioans who may find themselves in the same situation as Husted.
• The court failed to overrule a harsh case that stripped a Kelleys Island councilman of his voting rights that was strikingly similar to the state senator’s case. That was the case I was required to rely on.
• The court pointed out that “the secretary determined that the record submitted to her was insufficient, and so she obtained additional evidence and then returned the matter to the board for its consideration,” and did not characterize my actions as an abuse of discretion or a “witch hunt.”
• The court stripped boards of elections of the authority to cancel a voter registration on a simple investigation and now requires an extra administrative step to cancel a voter registration, essentially making it harder to fight voter fraud.
Now Husted is raising money on claims that he has fought harder than anyone else for the right to vote. I think he should revisit history in 1920 and the era of women’s suffrage and the 1960s turmoil of the civil rights movement to get his facts straight.
He stated under oath at the board’s hearing that he lives with his family in Franklin County, his children attend school in Franklin County, his Senate paycheck is deposited into a joint account with his wife in Franklin County, and documents show that his wife votes in Franklin County and his utilities are sporadically and rarely used in Montgomery County.
Husted should act on his assertions that he can change the law anytime he wants to. He should work in a bipartisan fashion to create a legislative bright line to determine residency. Ohio’s residency laws are inconsistent and do not promote a clear understanding of voting rights that encourage participation.
Jennifer Brunner is Ohio secretary of state. She currently is running for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Guest Columns
