Ohio Chapter

NEWS RELEASE

Report Features Projects That Reduce or Encourage Traffic, Pollution & Sprawl

COLUMBUS-The Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club released a report today to help Ohio's communities tackle their transportation challenges and improve ozone conditions for a healthy Ohio. The map, "Smart Choices, Less Traffic," highlights the best and worst local plans for alleviating traffic congestion and air pollution, including the planned Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati Passenger Rail Service (3-C Rail), which received a high mark and the proposed Eastern Corridor Highway (U.S. Route 32) in Southwest Ohio, which received a low mark in the report.

"A visionary plan like the 3-C High-speed Rail project demonstrates that we can save commuters from traffic jams and air pollution by giving them sensible options for getting to their destinations," said Shannon Harps, Conservation Program Coordinator for the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club. "The 3-C Rail project highlighted in this national report illustrates that there are creative and effective ways to enhance mobility and reduce pollution and sprawl in Ohio," Harps said.

The 258-mile "3-C" high-speed rail project, which would link Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Springfield and Cincinnati with passenger rail service, was highlighted as a "Transportation Solution for the 21st Century." The line would include stops at shopping centers and residential areas to make it a convenient alternative to driving. It would protect Ohio's farmland by decreasing the need to expand the highway system. Annual ridership is projected to be 1.2 million by 2010.

"There is an urgent need to look at rail as a timely, convenient and all-weather alternative to increasingly congested highway and air travel", says Stu Nicholson, Administrative Director of the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers. "States like Ohio are working on ambitious and aggressive plans to return and expand passenger trains service in corridors like the 3-C, but Congress and the Bush Administration must first get serious about funding passenger rail and transit on balance with other modes. Washington continues to spend less than one percent of the total federal transportation budget on passenger rail, and that just doesn't get the job done."

An Ohio State University poll found that 80% of Ohioans favor or strongly favor state-supported efforts to develop and fund passenger rail services in Ohio. "This is a super-majority of Ohioans sending an unmistakable message," says Nicholson.

Motor vehicles contribute more ozone precursors in Central Ohio then any other single category of sources. Columbus had 29 ozone alerts this summer-the most ever issued in the Columbus area. Ozone can irritate the respiratory system, reduce lung function, and aggravate asthma; causing serious health problems for Central Ohioans.

The Eastern Corridor Highway was highlighted as an inefficient example of nearsighted transportation planning in the report. For decades citizens have worked to protect Cincinnati's Little Miami River, which received a National Wild and Scenic River designation in 1980. This $77 million, 10-mile, four- to six-lane highway and bridge would worsen water, air and noise pollution, increase traffic congestion and sprawl, and threaten this rare and natural treasure. Transportation alternatives such as light rail and expanded bus service would decrease congestion, cost less in the long run and protect the river.

"This highway project will only induce traffic, promote sprawl, and destroy one of only three National Wild and Scenic Rivers in Ohio," said Harps. "Cincinnati area residents deserve transportation choices such as light rail and expanded bus service, which will enhance mobility and improve air quality," Harps continued.

Transit ridership in the U.S. has increased by 21% in the last five years. According to a 2001 National Association of Realtors poll, 62% of Americans would try rail or train service if it is convenient, accessible and safe. Nonetheless, public transit projects receive merely 1/5 of the federal funding that highways get.

The "Smart Choices, Less Traffic" transportation map is available online at: http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/report02

The Sierra Club is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization with 700,000 members nationwide. The Ohio Chapter, chartered in 1968, has 18,000 members. The Sierra Club has been a leader in an effort to promote more livable communities that provide people with a variety of safe transportation choices.

The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers represents the hundreds of thousands of people who use passenger trains in Ohio each year, and is the only statewide advocate for the improvement and expansion of passenger rail services.

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