Online, people can email comments to rfields@oki.org until April 10. There will also be a public meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday at OKI’s office, 720 E. Pete Rose Way, Suite 420, Cincinnati.
Robert Koehler, deputy executive director of OKI, told the Journal-News that there are a number of projects in Butler County that are included in the TIP document, including the $50 million Millikin Road Interchange project on Interstate 75, which recently received a $10 million contribution from the county.
“Any project that has federal dollars in it needs to be in this transportation improvement program document,” Koehler said. “In addition to that, projects that are regionally significant, whether they have federal dollars or not, need to be in the TIP.”
The proposed North Hamilton Crossing is also included in the TIP. The transportation project includes a new bridge across the Great Miami River and a railroad overpass connecting northwest Hamilton to U.S. Route 127, Ohio 4 and Ohio 129.
Other routine maintenance projects that are funded by the city would not be included in the TIP.
For a project like the Brent Spence Bridge, Koehler said that Kentucky has “ceded the responsibilities of the TIP maintenance” to ODOT, meaning that citizens will not see the bridge updates listed in Kenton County’s section of the TIP.
Projects like carbon reduction, electric vehicle charging stations, safety funds and transportation alternatives (nonmotorized forms of travel) are also included in the TIP.
As a metropolitan planning organization, one of OKI’s main purposes is to come up with a “regional consensus on projects.”
“We work in collaboration with federal and state partners, but it’s our job to make sure that the goals of the region are fulfilled,” Koehler said.
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