BUTLER REGIONAL HIGHWAY FEATURED IN U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY'S BUDGET REMARKS

BUTLER REGIONAL HIGHWAY FEATURED IN U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY'S BUDGET REMARKS

The Butler County Transportation Improvement District's (TID) largest project, the Butler Regional Highway, was featured in a speech delivered by United States Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater in Washington DC today.

"The Butler County TID continues to serve as a regional and national model for better government, and we are thrilled that Secretary Slater included us in his comments today," said Darrell Barger, TID Executive Director.

In his comments on the federal transportation budget, Secretary Slater used the Butler Regional Highway as an example of successful innovative financing through the State Infrastructure Bank loan program. The Highway was the only specific road project mentioned in Slater's speech which covered investment in all areas of transportation infrastructure.

Authorized by the United States Congress in 1995, the SIB loan program is a national pilot project designed to enable local governments to expedite transportation projects through low interest loans. The TID received the first three of four SIB loans made in the nation. The first SIB loan was obtained on September 15, 1996, for $ 10,000,000.00; the second SIB loan was obtained on January 15, 1997, for $ 10,000,000.00; and the third SIB loan was obtained on May 29, 1997, for $ 15,000,000.00. The TID is also the first entity in the nation to repay SIB loans.

Ohio was one of the first states selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to participate in this innovative financing program. In November, 1997, ODOT was repaid $36,562,103.00 for the three SIB loans made to the TID.

The TID plans to begin construction of the Highway early this Spring. The new Highway will be a limited access, four-lane, 11 mile facility linking link SR 4 in Hamilton, Ohio, with Interstate 75 in Liberty Township, Butler County.