By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ohio Department of Transportation officials say they will vote this week against a proposed interchange expansion on Interstate 75 at Liberty Township on the area's long-range transportation plan. The agency's stand could be crucial, because it could ultimately have final say over whether the project gets built.

Michael Flynn, deputy director of ODOT's District 8 (which oversees southwest Ohio), says his agency isn't necessarily against the project. But because he believes not all the facts are in, specifically a $6 million study of the I-75 corridor from north of Dayton to the Ohio River, ODOT should hold off on any decisions regarding the project.

"We don't understand why considering this project can't wait another 3-4 months," Mr. Flynn said Tuesday. "There is a process that we're trying to follow. I understand that there are people who all want their projects out there, but this gets aggravating when everyone wants to exempt their own project from that process."

The Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), the area's transportation planning board, is set to vote on adding the proposed $8 million interchange expansion to the 30-year plan, a necessary step for any project if it is to receive state or federal funding. ODOT has a vote on the board, as do representatives from most governmental jurisdictions in OKI's eight-county area.

Butler County officials have proposed expanding the interchange of I-75 and the Michael A. Fox Highway in both directions to increase traffic flow and create more commercial development, which has proven controversial not only in Butler County, but throughout the region.

Some local officials are against the project if local roads aren't improved; some Cincinnati officials say OKI should try and redevelop land in the city before pouring more resources into continued suburban development.

Mike Fox, the Butler County commissioner for whom the highway is named and who has championed the expanded interchange, said he wants to get the project in the 2030 plan so the debate can start on whether it's a good idea. He also he doesn't want to wait for the results of OKI's North-South Initiative, the two-year study of I-75 that is set to conclude next spring.

"If we wait for them to finish all their studies, we'll be waiting forever because their process doesn't work in the real world, especially with the high growth we've got going on here," said Mr. Fox.

Mr. Fox believes he has enough votes from the board's 67 voting executive committee members to get the project added to OKI's long-range plan.

Earlier this week, OKI staff recommended the passage of the resolution that would put the project on the 30-year plan.

"We are bringing forward for a vote by the board with a recommendation because it has cleared all the requirements put forth, such as air quality and the like," said OKI executive director Jim Duane.

Also Tuesday, an OKI advisory committee made up of area transportation experts and engineers approved adding the proposal to the long-range plan by a 17-4 vote.

Even if the project makes it onto the plan, both Mr. Flynn and Mr. Fox say they understand that would be no guarantee that bulldozers will be moving in any time soon or at all.

The state, on behalf of the Federal Highway Administration, has final say over any project involving the federal interstate system. And if any project doesn't pass federal or state requirements, or if state or federal highway officials determine that it would have adverse impact on the interstate as a whole, then it won't be built.

"They're the 500-pound gorilla in this process, and in the end, all roads lead to ODOT," Mr. Fox said. "We understand that, but we just want to allow the debate to start and not be cut off from even asking."

Mr. Flynn said there have been no traffic impact studies done on the proposal, and that it is still unknown what the effects would be on all of I-75.

Still, Mr. Fox said ODOT director Gordon Proctor told him that the agency would support the project if OKI approved it, and that ODOT has previously supported the proposal in OKI meetings and previous votes.

"But now, ODOT is trying to keep OKI from approving it, so where does that leave us?" said Mr. Fox, who admits the cost of the interchange could double by the time it would actually be built. "It's obvious they have an agenda against this."

Mr. Flynn said his agency is trying to respect the process and needs to consider the entire I-75 corridor before making determinations on one interchange.

"If we allowed ourselves to bypass the process, we could lose not only our funding, we could lose the power to do our own reviews and have someone else do them for us, which would be devastating to the state," Mr. Flynn said. He points out that the state board that approves road projects (the Transportation Review Advisory Council) has placed a moratorium on new construction until 2007.

"It's kind of unfair to prioritize one project over the other, when we don't know what the overall impact will be," he said.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com