More on the Ohio Turnpike...

Kate asked a very good question in the earlier post about outsourcing the Turnpike. A few of us have wondered why and how the Turnpike can continue once the bonds were paid off, so I decided it was time to dust off the search engine and get to work.

I first found The Ohio Turnpike's webpage which gives us some history:

Ohio's leaders envisioned a nonstop span across the state superior to anything that had ever been built. In 1949, the legislature authorized creation of the Ohio Turnpike Commission. To fund the new superhighway, the Commission issued $326 million in revenue bonds. The Turnpike would be the biggest construction project in Ohio's history to that time.

Ground was broken on October 27, 1952. At peak construction, 10,000 workers were on the job and the landscape became dotted with more than 2,300 bulldozers, graders, loaders and other machines. Building the 241 mile highway took only 38 months.

On October 1, 1955, the massive project was completed. Hundreds of eager motorists were lined up to be among the first to drive nonstop all the way across Ohio. Opening Day traffic totaled 44,000 vehicles. The Turnpike was in business.

Then under the Rules portion I found the specific number of the Ohio Revised Code which refers to the Turnpike Commission. So I then went to the online version of the Ohio Revised Code; there I found why and when the Turnpike was allowed to exist even after bonds were paid:

§ 5537.21. Continuance as toll road after debts paid; fixing and use of tolls.

(A) When bond service charges on all outstanding bonds issued in connection with any turnpike project have been paid or provision for that payment has been made, as provided in the applicable bond proceedings, or in the case of a turnpike project in connection with which no bonds have been issued, the project shall continue to be or be operated, and improved and maintained, by the Ohio turnpike commission as a part of the Ohio turnpike system and as a toll road, and all revenues received by the commission relating to that project shall be applied as provided in division (B) of this section.

(B) Subject to the bond proceedings for bonds relating to any turnpike project, tolls relating to a turnpike project as referred to in division (A) of this section shall be so fixed and adjusted that the aggregate of revenues relating to that project and available for the purpose are in amounts to provide moneys sufficient, and those revenues shall be used, to pay the costs described in division (C)(1) of section 5537.13 of the Revised Code.

HISTORY: GC § 1219; 123 v 232 (244); Bureau of Code Revision, 10-1-53; 135 v H 200 (Eff 9-28-73); 143 v S 7 (Eff 4-12-91); 145 v H 154. Eff 6-30-93.

Unfortunately information from our Ohio House and Senate contained in the Journals that might shed more light on this are not available online - They begin in 1997, this took effect in 1993. I'm going to do more research but that is what I have been able to discover in the mean time.

I tried to check thru the Secretary of State's office to see if we as voters had decided this in the early 90's, while I don't remember that happening, it could have. However, it appears that part of the site is not available since I got this message:

Http/1.1 Service Unavailable