By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Improvements to U.S. Highway 24 between Fort Wayne and Toledo, Ohio, will enhance safety and provide better opportunities for farmers, transportation officials in Indiana and Ohio said.
When the project is completed early in the next decade, the entire stretch of the highway between Fort Wayne and Toledo will be four lanes, with interchanges replacing intersections in some areas. Some parts of current U.S. 24 will be expanded to four lanes, while other sections will be rebuilt completely to eliminate dangerous curves, said Scott Varner, deputy director of the Ohio Department of Transportation.
“There has been an increase in commercial truck traffic on a road that, in a lot of areas, is still a rural two-lane road,” Varner said. “The increase in truck traffic has led to safety and congestion issues.”
Farmers and others in business and industry will also benefit from the project, Varner said.
“There’s a growing demand for agriculture and what they supply, and getting those products to new markets will be easier,” he said. “It’s clear this is a vital economic link, whether for a farm or factory, to get to those markets. The markets open up when you get to the Port of Toledo.”
Construction on Ohio’s section of the project began in May 2006, with an anticipated completion date of 2011, he said. Ohio is responsible for 58.6 miles of improvements, at a cost of $439.6 million, Varner said. Federal and state money is paying for the project.
Indiana’s portion of the “Fort to Port” project is 13.1 miles from Fort Wayne to the Ohio line, said Stacie McCormick, public information officer with the Fort Wayne district of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).
“This is a safety issue, and that’s our first concern,” she said. “The second was to provide a way for access to Toledo from Fort Wayne and northern Indiana.”
Indiana officials recently broke ground on the project, which will start at the Ohio line and move west to Fort Wayne. The state expects to complete its portion of the project in 2012. The $170 million price tag is being paid with money from the state’s Major Moves Transportation Fund, McCormick said.
Once Fort to Port is complete, it will combine with the Hoosier Heartland Corridor to provide four-lane highway access from Lafayette to Toledo, said Debbie Calder, public information officer with INDOT’s Crawfordsville district.
In February, the timetable for the remaining section of the project between Logansport and Lafayette was accelerated, with an anticipated completion date of Fall 2013, Calder said.
“This will be a safer route from Lafayette to northeast Indiana, and Ohio,” she said.
The Hoosier Heartland Corridor follows U.S. 24 from Fort Wayne to Logansport, and Indiana 25 from Logansport to Lafayette. The cost for the Logansport to Lafayette section is estimated at $342.5 million, and will also be paid for by Major Moves funding, Calder said.
“Our waiting is over. A safer road and countless new jobs are finally on their way, without a dollar of new taxes or new borrowing,” said Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels in a statement. “Hoosiers are showing America how to solve problems and protect taxpayers at the same time.”
Improvements to U.S. 24 in Henry County, Ohio, are welcome, said Tom VonDeylen, county commissioner.
“Our unemployment rate is one of the highest in the state, and there will be the economic benefit of attracting businesses to provide employment for our people,” he said. “Traffic-wise, it will alleviate some of the problems. There are numerous bad areas between here and Toledo, but once the road is made more safe, we expect to see more people in the area.”
Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Paulding counties have started a regional port authority to market the area on the state and federal levels, said Tom Kime, a county commissioner in Defiance County, Ohio.
“The safety issue with all the trucks is the number-one concern,” he said. “But the big plus is the anticipated economic boost.
“It’s about the trucks and transportation. Farmers and other businesses depend on trucking to get their goods to market.”