Ohio Department of Transportation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) | |
 |
|
| Type | Government agency |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1905 |
| Headquarters | 1980 West Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio, 43223 |
| Key people | James Beasley (Director) |
| Industry | Public transportation construction / maintenence |
| Operating income | $2.898 billion USD[1] (2007) |
| Employees | 6,031 (2006) |
| Website | http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ |
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the state of Ohio with exception of the Ohio Turnpike. ODOT (pronounced "oh-dot") is part of the executive branch of state government. The Director of Transportation is part of the Governor's Cabniet.
ODOT has broken up the state of Ohio into 12 districts in order to facilitate regional development. Each district is responsible for the planning, design, construction and maintenance of the state and federal highways in their region.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Ohio Department of Highways began operations on February 15, 1905. The original office consisted of 4 employees and an annual budget of $10,000. Its mission was to study the state roads and the science of road construction.
The Department of Highways created the first Ohio State Highway Patrol in an attempt to reduce the amount of automobile-related fatalities in 1933. By the end of the year the first patrolmen were on duty.
By 1947 the Ohio Department of Highways was constructing new roads at a record pace. They awarded 422 contracts, spending $38 million on new construction and $4 million on maintenance. This marked the highest amount spent on road construction by Ohio than all years previous.
On June 29, 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law, designating highways for each state to build with federal assistance to create the modern interstate highway system. One year later in 1957 The Ohio’s Department of Highways officially began construction on the 1,500 miles of the interstate system designated for Ohio in the Federal Aid Highway Act. After one year of interstate construction, Ohio was ahead of most other states in creating interstate highways. At this time they were spending more on roadway construction than New York or California, and by 1962 had 684 miles of interstates open. By the end of the decade Ohio hit a milestone with over 1000 miles completed.
In 1965 the federal government began to allow new federal funds to be spent on highway beautification projects. The Ohio Department of Highways took a leading role in this national initiative, creating a new Design Services Division to oversee rest areas and landscaping along thousands of miles of state and interstate roadways in Ohio.
In an effort to consolidate multiple modes of transportation under one agency, the Ohio Department of Highways officially became the Ohio Department of Transportation in September 1972.
Throughout the decade construction of interstate highways continued. Two more milestones were reached during this period, with the full outerbelt (Interstate 270) being completed around Columbus in 1975, as well as Interstate 70 traveling east to west through the heart of Ohio in 1976.[2]
[edit] Recent events
By the beginning of the 21st century, the Ohio's interstate highway system was approaching 50 years old and many highways were reaching the end of their designed lives. Commercial truck traffic alone had grown 90 percent in the last quarter century and is estimated to grow another 60 percent by 2020. Around this time a statewide plan was created to address congestion issues as well as the repair of aging interstate highways. In August of 2000 ODOT began the Cleveland [Innerbelt Freeway|Innerbelt]] Study to develop a comprehensive strategy to rebuild portions of Interstate 71, Interstate 77, and Interstate 90 into downtown Cleveland.[3] The study was completed in 2004 and construction is planned to begin in 2009.
Other studies include the Columbus Crossroads Study (I-70/I-71 interchange), the Toledo I-75/I-475 Interchange Study, the North Central Outerbelt Study (I-270), and the Akron Central Interchange Project (I-76).[4]
In March 2002 ODOT began the largest project in their history. Needing a replacement for the outdated Craig Memorial Bridge, the Maumee River Crossing (now the Veterans’ Glass City Skyway Bridge) was developed with an estimated price tag of $220 million. The cable-stayed bridge design includes glass panels along the center pylon with LEDs behind these panels, allowing for customizable lighting effects on the bridge.[5]
August 5, 2003 became a historic day for ODOT when Governor Bob Taft unveiled his 10-year, $5 billion, Jobs and Progress plan. The plan was developed in order to supply $500 million annually to ODOT for new construction and revitalization projects designed to ease freeway congestion, improve road safety, and connect rural regions of Ohio. The plan is also estimated to create over 4,000 highway construction jobs.[6] One month later ODOT completed Interstate 670 in Columbus, marking the completion of the original interstate highway plan in Ohio.
Another major project began on June 14, 2004. The Northeast Expressway Transformation (NExT) project marked the largest project ever in central Ohio and included rebuilding the State Route 161 interchanges at Interstate 270 and Sunbury Road, including 17 bridges, 18 ramps and five miles of highway.[7]
[edit] ODOT and Ohio highway information (2006)
- 7th largest highway system in the nation
- 5th greatest volume of traffic
- 4th largest interstate system
- 3rd greatest value of truck freight
- 2nd largest inventory of bridges
[edit] Maintains
- Approximately 49,000 lane miles
- Over 44,000 Bridges and Culverts
- Over 5,000 stop signs
- Over 3,400 intersections
- Over 6,200 on and off ramps
- Over 3,100 miles of guard rail
(For a complete list of all roads maintained by ODOT, click here)
[edit] Districts
Each ODOT district is made up of a Planning, Production, Highway Management and Business & Human Resources departments. The Planning department is responsible for identifing ares that need improvement, scheduling the time frame for the improvement, and securing the funding needed to design and construct the improvement.
A list of districts and the counties they cover is as follows:
- District 11: Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Tuscarawas
[edit] Road safety strategies and activities
ODOT regularly measures the traffic volumes on its roadways. Automated Traffic Recorders (ATRs), time-lapsed videos, and piezometric tube counters are utilized to generate the Traffic Survey Report.
ODOT also partners with the Ohio Department of Public Safety to monitor traffic related crashes. Traffic crash reports are entered into a database that is shared by both departments. This Base Transportation Reporting System (BTRS) allows ODOT to review the number, frequency and severity of accidents that occur on its system.
Traffic engineering uses safety threshold numbers to signal areas of concern for traffic safety.
[edit] Snow and ice removal
In 2000, ODOT began installing pavement sensors and Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking devices, and generating computer-modeled snow plow routes, to enhance its snow and ice removal program. The pavement sensors relay valuable information such as pavement and air temperature, precipitation accumulation and wind speed. By identifying and reporting weather conditions on the highway, the sensors help ODOT prioritize its response, to more efficiently clear the roads.
Pavement sensors are currently installed on highways around the state with more to come. Data from these sensors is transferred to ODOT's district offices, and entered into the Road and Weather Information System(RWIS) on the ODOT web site. Motorists can track winter weather conditions by accessing RWIS on the internet. RWIS also lists winter weather advisories, snow warnings and highway closures. The information is kept up-to-date, and is available 24 hours per day.
Computer modeling software is also used to plan plow routes for each county. Data on equipment capabilities, personnel resources, facility locations and highway types is entered into the system. Highway layouts and the locations of available plows and salt stores are then examined, to determine the most effective routes for snow plows and salt spreading equipment.
Global Positioning System (GPS) devices were also installed on ODOT vehicles, to help monitor the locations of ODOT equipment. This technology will allow the department to track the exact location of snow removal equipment, and determine which routes have been serviced.[8]
[edit] Creating a more efficient organization
In 1995, ODOT began efforts to become more efficient as well as be more customer-friendly. At the time ODOT employed 7,800 employees. Since then the total number of employees has been reduced to 6,031, a 22.6% decrease in only 5 years. This move drastically reduced the increase in payroll expenditures to only .78% per year. In addition, non-payroll budgets have been limited to a 2% annual increase since 1995.
Since the Ohio Department of Transportation is managed by seperate districts, district budgets have been redesigned to allow any operational efficiencies to remain within the district. This allows each district to reinvest into their own roads and bridges, provided they are able to spend less than their budget. A comprehensive set of measures and objectives have been adopted in order to oversee each district's performance.
Since downsizing, ODOT has become more efficient in every major area of operation. Between 1997 and 2004, deficiencies have been reduced significantly. Bridge structural deficiencies have been reduced 74%, pavement deficiencies have been reduced 79%, and guardrail deficiencies have been reduced 70%. In addition, snow and ice removal efforts have been improved across the board.[9]
[edit] Mission statement
We will provide a world-class transportation system that links Ohio to a global economy while preserving the state’s unique character and enhancing its quality of life.
[edit] External links
- Ohio Department of Transportation - Official ODOT Website
- BuckeyeTraffic.org - ODOT traffic and roadway information
- ODOT Traffic Webcams - ODOT Traffic Webcams
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
[edit] Recent and current projects
Akron
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
- Interstate 670 Completion Project
- Northeast Expressway Transformation Project
- North Central Outerbelt Study
- I-70/I-71 South Innerbelt Corridor Study
Toledo
[edit] References
- ^ 2004 Through 2015 Highway Funding And Program Forecast
- ^ Ohio's Interstate History Timeline
- ^ Cleveland Innerbelt Study
- ^ Project Information & Transportation Studies of Interest
- ^ Maumee River Crossing Information
- ^ Jobs and Progress Plan
- ^ 161NExT Project
- ^ NHTSA Traffic Safety Digest
- ^ Ohio Department of Transportation 2006-2007 Budget Testimony
