• E-Edition
• Home
• News
• Sports
• AP
• Obituaries
• Classifieds
• Jobs
• Autos
• Homes
• Garage Sales
• Coupons
• Subscribe
• Archive
• Services
• Contribute
• Blogs

Four-lane U.S. 24 has been discussed for more than 25 years

E-mail Story    |    Print Story    |    Comments    |   

By JACK PALMER

palmer@crescent-news.com

"How many people here thought U.S. 24 would never be built?" Ohio Department of Transportation director Gordon Proctor asked 42 months ago at the symbolic dirt-turning ceremony held at Defiance County's ODOT garage off Baltimore Road.

His question prompted a show of hands from many of the 100 people in attendance.

Admitted Proctor: "There were people in ODOT who thought it would not be built, either."

"I give a lot of credit to the early dreamers, people like Sue Westendorf, Jamie Black, Vera Miles and Louise Miller," said former Defiance mayor and former county commissioner Tom Wiseman. "They kept the idea going and made sure the ODOT people wouldn't forget about them. They were passionate about their cause."

Wiseman himself recalls attending a meeting with ODOT officials in Columbus as early as 1985.

"I was mayor at that time and I remember going down with Gaylon Davis, who was city engineer," recounted Wiseman. "There were several other local government officials there that day, people like Vera and Louise."

Westendorf, who now lives in Bowling Green, served as co-chairman of the Fort-to-Port Improvement Organization from 1989-2007. In doing so she chaired public engagement meetings across the region, met with ODOT officials and made presentations to the Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) in Ohio.

While the new highway's economic development opportunities were discussed at those early meetings, Wiseman said the main concern was safety.

"Even back then, most everybody who had lived in this area for several years could name a family member, friend or acquaintance who was killed on the two-lane U.S. 24 between Fort Wayne and Toledo," said Wiseman. "That's more true today. I predicted around 1990 when I was in the commissioner's office that the road would take another 10 years to get built. It turned out to be about 20 years, but I'm glad to see it finally happening."

Two groups, the Sierra Club and Farming Americans Resisting More Unneeded Pavement, made their opposition known to TRAC as the plans became more concrete.

"Once the process got rolling, it was a well-coordinated effort," said Wiseman. "This new road is a godsend for the citizens of this area, who waited so patiently."

Davis became more involved in the preliminary planning after being elected county engineer in 1988.

"One of the statistics that really stuck out in my mind was the truck traffic count through Antwerp," said Davis. "Trucks made up one-half of the total traffic. That's almost unheard of anywhere. Another statistic I recall seeing was that Defiance was the farthest distance away from a four-lane highway among cities its size in the entire state."

Davis, who planned to attend today's ribbon-cutting ceremony, praised ODOT for its integral role in the project.

"They formulated the plans and got the road alignment accepted," said Davis. "They were involved in many public meetings along the way. The construction has really gone well and ODOT deserves credit for that, along with the contractors."

Gerry Shidler, who resides near the intersection of U.S. 127 and the two-lane U.S. 24, expressed his feelings about the project on The Crescent-News website's citizen opinion forum.

"A job well done and none to soon," Shidler wrote Wednesday. "I will still (have) the north- and southbound traffic on U.S. 127, with new hopes of less traffic. It will make going across old 24 less of a job just to get our mail.

"I just wanted to say thank you to all of the people involved in the making the four-lane highway possible," he added. "Thank you to all of the labor workers involved in building this road, you did a fine job."