I-75 exit in West Carrollton finally to be finished

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By Kristin McAllister, Staff Writer Updated 10:20 PM Friday, March 19, 2010

WEST CARROLLTON — After four decades of trying, West Carrollton finally secured the final $14 million needed to finish exit 47 off Interstate 75 into the city and several connecting communities.

The Ohio Department of Transportation Review Advisory Council on Thursday, March 18, approved $14 million in funding of the $28 million project.

“After losing out on the federal funding, we needed some good news,” said Bill Covell, West Carrollton economic development director.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in February announced that 51 projects were approved for $1.5 billion in funding nationwide, including two in Ohio, but not the local exit project, Covell said.

He said the city, through a group of 17 area jurisdictions, has the remaining $14 million needed to complete the project, slated to get under way next spring following a fall bid of the project.

Kettering, Moraine, Montgomery County Commission and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission are among those funding the project, Covell said.

As the exit now exists, motorists traveling from I-75 into or out of West Carrollton and Moraine are forced to make U-turns, because the exit, built in the early 1960s, was never completed. For drivers that means extra miles and time, plus higher fuel costs.

“It helps with business retention, business expansion and certainly helps the redevelopment of the GM site,” Covell said.

The exit is particularly vital to the city of Moraine because officials there recently announced that redevelopment of the former General Motors assembly plant could create 4,000 jobs — jobs made easier to market and get with the completion of the exit.

Construction of the unfinished portion of the exit is expected to bring 700 jobs for the two-year duration of the project, Covell said.

The exit long topped the state’s list, including Gov. Ted Strickland’s, as Ohio’s leading road project. Covell said that one of the reasons the final state funding came through is because there already was in place the multi-jurisdictional money match.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-9338 or kmcallister@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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