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Area residents will be asked to provide input this spring on a regional transportation plan that could help Champaign and Logan counties seek additional state funding to improve highways and make local intersections safer.
The Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission has spent more than a year developing a long-range transportation plan that is expected to be complete this year, said Dave Gulden, director of the LUC. The plan is being developed as part of a roughly $175,000 pilot program from the Ohio Department of Transportation that started in 2013.
The goal is to give rural planning commissions and residents more input into which projects will provide the best value to the region, Gulden said. The LUC was one of the rural commissions that was included in the two-year program, which will likely be extended for at least another year.
“This planning effort we’re doing now really sets the stage for what’s important to build in the future,” Gulden said.
Larger metro areas typically create and update detailed transportation plans every few years, but rural planning commissions rarely have the same training and resources. So those efforts are left to county engineers and ODOT, said Ana Ramirez, director of long-range planning and engineering for the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.
The MVRPC is assisting the LUC with the study, including providing training and access to data like census data and traffic counts, Ramirez said. At the end of the process, LUC staff members will be able to monitor and update the plan as needed.
“The local elected officials will have more say in the transportation process overall,” Ramirez said. “Their voices will be heard a little more by looking at it regionally as opposed to being part of the statewide program.”
The LUC has also formed a steering committee with elected officials from both Champaign and Logan counties to offer input into the planning process, Gulden said. Members of that committee include representatives from both county commissions, economic development officials, county engineers and staff from Urbana and Bellefontaine, among others.
The study will include not just major highways, but also reviews of county and township roads, village streets and even bike paths, Gulden said. It could provide information on which intersections require upgrades to improve safety, which areas receive the heaviest truck traffic and which areas need maintenance.
It would also help the region be more competitive when seeking state funding, Gulden said. Once a draft of the plan is complete, local residents will be invited to provide input as well during public meetings in April or May.
“The idea is it’s going to get our ducks in a row so we know what’s the most important thing to go after funding for,” Gulden said.
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