CINCINNATI, Ohio — Construction of the I-275 SmartLane project in Clermont and Hamilton counties would be fully funded with $9.6 million in fiscal year 2028 under a draft state transportation list released this week, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s report on the Ohio Department of Transportation announcement.
The money is part of a draft funding list from ODOT’s Transportation Review Advisory Council, known as TRAC, which on Nov. 10 proposed 13 major projects totaling $46.7 million in new funding starting in fiscal year 2027, The Dispatch reported. The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, reporting on the same announcement, put the proposed funding for 12 of the projects at $37.1 million, with the additional $9.6 million completely funding the I-275 SmartLane construction.
TRAC approves funding for projects under ODOT’s Major New Capacity Program — projects that cost more than $12 million overall, increase a roadway’s traffic capacity or reduce congestion, and are considered critical to mobility, economic development and quality of life, according to The Dispatch. A smart lane uses a highway shoulder as an added travel lane during busy periods, squeezing more capacity out of the existing I-275 corridor on Cincinnati’s east side.
The rest of the draft list reaches across Ohio: $4 million for right-of-way work on the State Route 161 widening and Mink Street Interchange in Franklin and Licking counties, $3 million for right-of-way and project development on Delaware County’s Sunbury Parkway, $4.1 million for design at State Route 315 and Lane Avenue in Columbus, and $4 million for preliminary engineering on the U.S. 33 widening in Franklin and Fairfield counties, The Dispatch reported. The I-475 widening in the Toledo area would receive $1.5 million for right-of-way work.
For Cincinnati-area drivers, the SmartLane is the headline item because it is the only project on the list proposed for full construction funding rather than an early-stage phase. I-275 is the region’s beltway, carrying commuters and freight around the city through Clermont and Hamilton counties, and its eastern segments back up heavily at peak hours.
Nothing on the list is final yet. TRAC is accepting public comments on the draft list by email at [email protected] through Dec. 9, and the council is scheduled to vote on the final list at its Dec. 17 meeting, according to ODOT’s announcement as reported by the Eagle-Gazette.
Residents and local officials who want the SmartLane — or any of the other 12 projects — to survive the final vote have until Dec. 9 to say so. If the list is approved as drafted on Dec. 17, the I-275 money would be programmed for fiscal year 2028, the next concrete step toward construction on the corridor.
Photo: formulanone, CC BY-SA