$200 million job 'fitting' for Toledo

Governor Taft put his official stamp of approval on the cable-stayed bridge as the type that will carry I-280 across the Maumee River during a riverside press conference yesterday near where construction of the bridge will begin next year.

The $200 million bridge and highway project will replace the Craig Memorial drawbridge, a dated structure that occasionally malfunctions, causing traffic delays on the interstate. Such a traffic jam occurred late Saturday afternoon when the bridge stuck upright for four hours.

Mr. Taft praised the work of local officials and those with the Ohio Department of Transportation, which managed the process to select a style of bridge.

"It is a complete, modern, signature bridge that evokes a nautical, sail-like image," the governor said. "The bridge is fitting for the city of Toledo, a city that has modernized its economy while capitalizing on its historic place as one of the premier Great Lakes ports in the United States."

He said the project has broken new ground by inviting the public for its opinion on the bridge. An Internet Web site that solicited public votes for bridge styles had 25,000 visitors, the governor said, and the effort was complemented with 14 public hearings on the subject and other advertising.

"This project .  .  . represents the first time that ODOT has asked a community to become so deeply involved in making major project decisions," Mr. Taft said. "This represents a new and effective way for ODOT to conduct business.

"Our job has just begun. The heavy lifting remains," he said. "I am asking ODOT to keep this job on schedule."

The next step is to hire a design firm to take the general concept to reality. Part of the firm's job will be to determine whether the bridge will need one or two support towers.

The bridge would be the largest single construction project ever undertaken by the state transportation department, Mr. Taft said.

He said the cable-stayed bridge design will allow local workers to construct almost all of the structure.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) and Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner praised the work of local citizens, and both pledged continued cooperation to complete the project. Miss Kaptur said 80 per cent of the funds for the bridge will come from Washington. "This is your tax money coming home," she told about 70 local officials attending the news conference.

Mr. Finkbeiner praised Sen. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green) and other members of the state legislature, saying: "We owe a debt of gratitude to the state delegation" for their work to focus the attention of state officials on the bridge project.

The press conference amounted to a campaign pledge fulfilled. The governor all but promised local political leaders he would back a new interstate bridge over the Maumee during his run for office last year.

The bridge will be built just north of the Craig bridge, which will remain operational for local traffic. Despite its problem Saturday, the Craig drawbridge has undergone an extensive renovation that includes replacement of most of its moving parts.

The Craig bridge span is 40 feet above the Maumee River, whereas the new bridge will be 120 feet high, ODOT officials said.

The cable-stayed bridge was the most popular among a handful of designs offered to local residents. Two other options were considered - a concrete box girder bridge, a flat structure with the lowest overall price tag, and a suspension bridge with two 220-foot support towers.

A steel truss design was so unpopular it was dropped from consideration early on.

The span will cost about $45 million, with most of the rest of the $200 million project costs associated with the redirecting, raising, and widening of I-280 approaches stretching from Navarre Avenue to Manhattan Boulevard. The federal government will pay $59 million, and the state will pay $41 million from its budget.

The remaining $100 million will come from a bond issue that the state will repay with federal highway subsidies.

Construction is expected to begin next fall, with the project completed in 2003.