Media Advisory

OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

DISTRICT ONE HEADQUARTERS - 1885 N. McCullough Street, Lima, Ohio 45801

http://www.dot.state.oh.us

Governor Strickland to open New U.S. Route 24

Indiana Governor, Toledo representatives to join in Fort to Port celebration

Antwerp, Ohio - Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, along with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and representatives of communities stretching from the Ohio-Indiana state line to the Port of Toledo, will officially open on Thursday the newest stretches of the new U.S. Route 24 in Northwest Ohio.

The newly completed projects are part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s $402 million Fort to Port corridor project, a modernization and expansion of more than 60 miles of U.S. 24 from Fort Wayne, Ind. to the Port of Toledo.

U.S. 24 is a critical shipping route in Northwest Ohio, with trucks representing a third of the overall traffic. A new, four-lane U.S. 24 will alleviate many safety concerns about the mixture of truck and residential traffic and will make travel more efficient.

Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony will officially open three sections of new U.S. 24 from Indiana 101 to the Ohio line in Indiana; and from the Ohio line to U.S. 127, and from U.S. 127 to Defiance in Ohio.

Thursday, October 29th

PAULDING COUNTY

WHO: Ohio Governor Ted Strickland

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels

ODOT Director Jolene M. Molitoris

WHAT: Ribbon-cutting ceremony to open U.S. Route 24

WHEN: 10:00 AM

WHERE: Ohio/Indiana State line

Directions:

From the east, take Ohio 49 to the south edge of Antwerp to the interchange with new U.S. 24. Travel west on new U.S. 24 approximately 3 ½ miles to the state line.

From the west, take Indiana 101 in Woodburn, Ind. to the new interchange with U.S. 24. Travel east on new U.S. 24 approximately 3 miles to the state line.

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For more information, contact Scott Varner, ODOT Central Office Communications, at (614) 644-8640

or Rhonda Pees, ODOT District 1, (419) 999-6803.