TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – There’s a big movement in the plans to make the drive from Northwest Ohio to Columbus easier. A plan is on paper for a bypass.
Lots more details and a price tag have to be ironed out, but it could also mean more businesses wanting to call this area home. If the bypass around the busy area of Delaware, Ohio, happens, it could put all of our region within two hours of Columbus. That time frame could be attractive to lots of businesses that may want to expand here or relocate.
The drive down US 23 from this area to Columbus can come to a frustrating halt at the traffic lights through Delaware. A potential bypass around all of that would put you onto I-71.
“We’re a step closer to making this a reality,” said Brian Dicken with the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce. “I think everything is on the table and that’s what we really want to see.”
The Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce has worked on this project for years, with the conversation going back 30 years.
ODOT was forced to come up with ideas after the legislature’s most recent transportation bill. The result was a bypass from 23 to 71 just north of where all those traffic lights begin and through the village of Ashley.
“We hear from our businesses that are here today about problems they encounter getting to and from Columbus. It’s about how do we serve their customers,” said Dicken.
“The next phase is really putting a line on a map and we’ll do that with a lot of feedback from people who live in that area. A lot of community outreach,” said Matt Bruning with the Ohio Department of Transportation.
ODOT now needs to look at what this roadway would look like, where exactly it would go and how to pay for a project that’s in the neighborhood of $1.4 billion.
One idea getting serious consideration is making this bypass a toll road. That could make it Ohio’s second tolled road after the Ohio Turnpike.
“We’re all driving more fuel-efficient vehicles. The cost of everything continues to go up. Our buying power continues to be eroded. A lot of states have looked at tolling as an option for improving roads,” said Bruning.
This project does not have a green light just yet, but it’s closer to happening than ever before. In the next year, Toledo leaders will stay engaged and see how it could make more businesses call this area home.
“It just opens up more opportunities,” said Dicken.
The new Gordie Howe bridge in and out of Canada plays a role in all this. If trucks and companies find it easier to use that bridge in Detroit and head south, making it easier to get to central Ohio and points beyond makes sense; that could mean those businesses or others in the supply chain see Northwest Ohio as an opportunity.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-10-02 18:19:00
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