The Ohio Department of Transportation has narrowed its search for a new U.S. Route 23–Interstate 71 connector to five possible freeway corridors, all of which would run north of the village of Ashley in Delaware County.
The routes, outlined in a Draft Conceptual Alternatives Study released Feb. 26, were selected from 16 initial options because they would have fewer impacts on homes, community facilities and environmental resources than other alignments, according to ODOT. The study is part of an ongoing feasibility review of a new north–south freeway link intended to ease congestion along U.S. 23, where rapid residential and commercial growth has contributed to chronic traffic delays.
Lawmakers directed ODOT to undertake the connector study in Ohio’s 2025 transportation operating budget, requiring the agency to evaluate whether a new freeway between U.S. 23 and I-71 north of Delaware is viable. An earlier planning report, completed in October, identified the area around Ashley as the focus for more detailed engineering work, after broader corridor concepts in Delaware, Marion and Morrow counties were screened.eblade.
In the latest screening, three corridors south of Ashley were eliminated because they would cut into Delaware State Park and cross federal floodplains, which the draft report says would complicate permitting and drive up construction costs. ODOT’s current five remaining concepts all bypass Ashley to the north while seeking to balance travel-time improvements with limits on right-of-way takings and environmental disruption.
ODOT is now asking residents, local officials and other stakeholders to weigh in on the five options and the broader conceptual study. Public comments will be accepted through April 14 via the agency’s online engagement portal, at a series of March open-house meetings in the study area, or by email, according to project materials.