By Mary Mogan Edwards, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Thursday’s announcement of a $45 million plan to make Ohio a center of autonomous-vehicle research included an item of greater immediate interest for some central Ohio commuters: By next year, speed limits on I-670 could change by the hour.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jerry Wray said he hopes next summer’s state budget will include authority for his department to set different speed limits at different times of the day. Currently, state law generally allows only a single speed limit for a given stretch of road, he said.
It’s something other states already are doing, Wray said, and he wants to test the idea on I-670. The plan also would include opening the shoulder to serve as an additional lane.
The idea is that, during busy times, adding a lane and slowing everyone would cut down on the inefficient braking and jockeying that come with faster driving in congested areas. Wray said the change could allow up to 30 percent more vehicles to get through a busy area in a given time.
If the idea is approved in the budget, ODOT will conduct studies to determine when the speed limit should be lowered, and the changes could be put in place in 2018.
The state, OSU and JobsOhio are providing the grant to the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, about 45 miles northwest of Columbus.
The award builds on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s selection of Columbus as the winner of the “Smart Cities Challenge,” which awarded Columbus $40 million last year. The independent research center affiliated with OSU is the largest automotive testing facility in the country.
“Ohio is a world leader in advanced automotive technology. This investment will further solidify central Ohio’s role as a national leader in transportation safety and innovation,” said Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, ranking member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, which oversees funding for the transportation department.
The state also is installing equipment along U.S. 33 in central Ohio to allow cars equipped with wireless technology to connect and communicate and has plans to install a similar system on two other interstates in Ohio.