U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, said he is trying to secure that funding amount for the Liberty Twp. highway interchange which would open upwards of 700 acres of undeveloped land for commercial development in the Millikin Road area.
Davidson said he’d gotten some congressionally directed funds to support the interchange project, but he’s frustrated because Congress couldn’t agree on a spending budget and used a continuing resolution approach.
No congressionally directed funds were approved, the congressman said.
“It never really got off the ground,” he said. “This year, going into Sept. 30, there’s no plan to hit the (federal spending bill) deadline. I think there’s a lot of pent-up demand from all my colleagues to find a way to get that done. I feel optimistic that we’ll talk with a lot of colleagues about this. We really will find a way to fund the government at some level...where congressionally directed funding is funded this year.”
While the project has been estimated to be $50 million, there are other costs associated with the project.
The Butler County Commission has committed $10 million for construction work and $2.75 million toward water and sewer work.
The Transportation Review Advisory Council has allocated $10.5 million for engineering and right-of-way acquisition, and the state of Ohio has promised $8.5 million for right-of-way acquisition.
Liberty Twp. has earmarked $10 million for construction.
The Butler County Regional Transportation District is managing the project, which has been on the township’s vision plans for around two decades, though the push to make it a reality started about 10 years ago, according to Liberty Twp.
“This Millikin interchange is not about an interchange, it’s about the benefit to the residents, the businesses and the community for generations to come, not just today,” Trustee Tom Farrell told the Journal-News in February.
It’s been estimated the interchange project could be see $388 million in new investments when completed.
Previous reporting by freelancer Denise Callahan was used in this story.
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