A regional planning agency approved Thursday a plan recommending more than $11 billion in Tristate transportation projects over 30 years.

        The plan, adopted by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments board of trustees, includes 94 highway expansion projects that would add 280 lane miles; would extend bus service to accommodate the population growth beyond the I-275 beltway; and develop a light rail system.

        Of the $11.3 billion in project costs, 45 percent is for highways, 29 percent for bus service and 26 percent for rail.

        The OKI plan says these projects are designed to satisfy the transportation needs of a Tristate population that is expected to grow to 2.3 million in 2030.

        The plan projects the population growth for all eight Tristate counties, with the largest in Butler, Warren and Boone counties.

        “We are still growing at a pretty good clip,” said Robert Koehler, OKI project manager. “We see a lot of places where we expect severe traffic congestion.”

        Being listed in the plan, which is updated at least every three years, allows projects to qualify for federal funding. But it doesn't guarantee that they'll receive it or that the projects will be built, Mr. Koehler said.

        Among the highway projects recommended in the plan:

        • The replacement of the Brent Spence Bridge with a new 10-lane bridge — $300 million.

        • The relocation of Ohio 32 between U.S. 50 and Eight Mile Road — $169 million.

        • The addition of two lanes to Interstate 275 between Ohio 4 and U.S. 42 — $157 million.

        • The addition of two lanes on I-74/I-275 from its east juncture to Dry Fork Road — $120 million.

        Butler County Commissioner Courtney Combs tried unsuccessfully to convince the OKI board to add a project that would complete the I-75 interchange at the Michael A. Fox Highway and connect the Fox Highway to an extended Cox Road.

        That $8 million project would reduce traffic on I-75 and would require no federal or state funding, said Mr. Combs, who represents Butler on the OKI board.

        Butler County and Liberty Township plan to finance it through tax increment financing, a development tool that uses property tax revenue to help pay for a project.

        Butler officials believe the project can be completed faster if the county undertakes the required preliminary studies than if it waits for OKI to conduct its I-75 corridor study and the Ohio Department of Transportation to finish environmental impact and traffic studies.

        But Diana Martin, an ODOT planning administrator, said the state would not slow down the project. Allowing Butler to conduct its own studies would be a duplication of effort, she said.

        By a 13-10 vote, OKI kept the project out of the plan.
       “I'm hoping ODOT sticks to its promise not to slow down the project,” Mr. Combs said after the vote. “But I have to believe bureaucracy will slow it down.”

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