A Faster Route To Columbus: Officials’ fight continues

But they may not be getting exactly what they want.

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SYLVANIA, Ohio — According to the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments — also known as TMACOG — there are at least 38 traffic lights between Northwest Ohio and the I-270 beltway that surrounds Columbus, making the drive to Columbus anything but direct and free-flowing. That’s why officials continue their efforts to make the drive to our state’s capital a more efficient one.

The focus of TMACOG’s efforts is U.S. 23, the main route to Columbus. In fact, recently, even the Ohio Department of Transportation began a study of options to improve the drive. However, the end result of phase one was ODOT determining that none of the seven proposed solutions could be “reasonably implemented.”

The study is now shifting focus to the planning and implementation of standalone improvement projects, rather than a complete and costly overhaul. Regardless of that, officials locally do believe a complete overhaul is worth the investment in the long run, with traffic between the two cities expected to increase — on top of the fact that Toledo’s the only major Ohio city without a direct connection to the capital.