TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Transportation workers have finished a plan to add a third lane to both directions along much of the Ohio Turnpike.
The Toledo Blade reports crews recently completed the last 4.6 miles of the project, nearly 20 years after it was announced. All lanes in the widening campaign are scheduled to open by Monday.
The upgrade to 159 of the road's 241 miles was slated to be done in five years when it was announced at an Ohio Turnpike Commission meeting in April 1995. The project was expected to cost $460 million.
But the newspaper reports the commission walked back an unpopular toll hike it had approved during that meeting after state lawmakers protested.
Turnpike officials say the reduction in revenue was a main reason for slowed progress.