The state Controlling Board on Monday approved spending $7 million to begin developing how to open the left shoulders of I-670 to alleviate traffic during rush hour.

The funding was approved over objections of Sen. Charleta B. Tavares, D-Columbus, who questioned the Ohio Department of Transportation’s authority to open the shoulder to regular traffic. The freeway runs through her district.

“It is a shoulder generally used for pulling over (after) accidents, for people who have flat tires or car trouble, but it’s not used as a lane,” Tavares said while questioning Johann Klein, Department of Transportation legislative liaison.

“My constituents have concerns about using that hard-running shoulder when you’re not going to have the ability to use it for emergencies.”

>>Find out where Central Ohio's road construction projects are this week at Dispatch.com/highway-headaches

Tavares said the state transportation budget passed earlier this year gave the department the authority to establish variable speed limits along I-670 from Downtown to the airport as part of a pilot program designed to reduce congestion during rush hour or bad weather. But, she said, there was no mention of allowing the state to open the shoulder.

Klein said the transportation director has the authority to open and close lanes, but Tavares said the shoulder is not a lane. “The shoulder needs more discussion.”

The left shoulder is currently used only by COTA buses during rush-hour traffic.

The state is paying $7 million to engineering consultants Burgess & Niple. The state plans to spend another $51 million on construction with the hope of having the shoulder lane ready for traffic in the spring.

Engineering will determine what is appropriate, Klein said, such as whether the right shoulder would need to be widened. “We owe it to the public to ensure everyone is aware of how the new system would work.”

Other variable-speed freeways will operate along I-275 in Cincinnati and I-90 from Cleveland to the Pennsylvania border.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

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