The cost to widen the last remaining stretch of Interstate 70 in Clark County to six lanes has dropped by more than $11 million, giving transportation officials hope that a portion of the project could start next year rather than more than 20 years.

Ohio Department of Transportation District 7 officials said this week it will cost about $15.5 million instead of the previously estimated $27 million to widen I-70 from Enon Road to U.S. 68.

Construction on I-70 had been delayed earlier this year until 2036 due to state budget constraints, but area transportation officials hope the lower cost as well as their plans to allocate $3 million toward the project will convince a state advisory council to upgrade the project so construction can begin as early as March 2013.

Local leaders have long sought to widen the freeway, citing safety and economic development concerns.

“(ODOT) District 7 is doing everything they can to be ready to go with this project. It just comes down to a matter of funding,” said Scott Schmid, director of the Clark County-Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee.

The I-70 project was among several statewide projects that a nine-member panel in January recommended be pushed back by decades.

Construction on the first phase — widening the 3.8-mile stretch of I-70 from Enon Road to U.S. 68 — had been expected to begin in 2015. And construction on the second phase — widening the 3.43-mile stretch from U.S. 68 to Ohio 72 — was to be completed by 2016.

The interstate needs to be widened, Schmid has said, to reduce congestion. About 55,000 to 60,000 motorists travel I-70 from Enon Road to U.S. 68 daily, and about 65,000 to 70,000 motorists travel along U.S. 68 to Ohio 72 daily.

Springfield Planning and Zoning Administrator Bryan Heck, who spoke before the state transportation council in April in an attempt to get funding for the project, said the I-70 construction project is critical because current conditions create a safety concern for motorist.

“It really creates a choke point, which creates safety issues for vehicle traffic because it is a highly traveled roadway through Clark County,” Heck.

The area that needs widening is also key to economic development in the region and state, Heck said.

“The stretch of I-70 has key intersections at (Route) 72, (Route) 68, and out by Enon Road. It’s important to have that widening so we can continue to attract businesses to those areas,” Heck said. “Those are key interchanges for the development of future industrial parks and current industrial needs.”

Matt Parrill, engineering and planning director for ODOT District 7, said the first phase of the project now costs $15.5 million because the road will only need resurfacing, not a full base replacement. The second phase of the project costs $42.5 million, he said, because it will require some bridge work as well.

ODOT District 7 officials applied earlier this year for the project to be upgraded so it could advance to the construction phase.

As part of that process, Parrill in late September told the state transportation council that District 7 would allocate $3 million it had planned to use to resurface I-70 toward the widening project to further lower costs.

“We already have to maintain the interstate. It’s only common sense to take that money and put it toward the (construction) project. But it’s really up to the board,” Parrill said. “We’ve made it very appealing, but there are projects that are already ahead of (this one).”

The Transportation Review Advisory Council will meet again on Nov. 1 and are expected to issue a draft of projects that could be funded 2014 through 2017 in December. A final list of the projects that will receive funding is expected to be announced in March 2013.

Schmid said if the advisory council funds both phases of the I-70 project, the widening work could be completed by 2018 or 2019.

“That’s if everything is perfectly lined up and the money is available,” Schmid said.