For Immediate Release                                                Contact: Rep. Joe Uecker

Monday, August 15 2005                                                          Phone: 614-466-8134

Eastgate and State Route 125 to Benefit from Federal Transportation Money

COLUMBUS – State Representative Joe Uecker ( R-Miami Township ) announced today that $5,700,000 of federal transportation money will be used for local projects in his district.  President George W. Bush signed the $284 billion transportation bill on Wednesday, August 10.

Ohio ’s share of the bill ranks seventh in the nation, with $6.6 billion in federal money to flow into the state through 2009. This figure represents a 36 percent increase in federal funding over the last transportation budget.

A key component of the bill includes a guarantee that states will receive at least 92 percent return on gas tax dollars sent to the federal government. Ohio has consistently ranked as a donor state, receiving on 90.5 cents back for every dollar in federal gas tax raised.

Local projects that were included in the multi-billion spending plan include: Improvements to the Eastgate I-275 and SR 32 area as well as safety and intersection improvements with turn lanes along SR125.

“ Ohio is tired of being a donor state and I am very pleased that Congress and the President have recognized this imbalance” Uecker said. “Every single roadway project becomes vital to our economic growth”.

Representative Uecker also said the bill stops penalizing states like Ohio for using ethanol-blended fuels.

It is estimated that more than 200,000 highway related jobs will benefit during the life of the federal legislation, with 20,000 of those jobs located in Ohio .