TOLEDO, Ohio — On Tuesday, more than a dozen west Toledo residents took to the Rushland Avenue overpass, adorned in Halloween masks and waving signs, calling for the end of the I-475 expansion project.
Peggy Daly Masternak, the organizer of the protest and the leader of the I-475 Neighborhoods Coalition, said she and her group's animosity for the project comes directly from the Ohio Department of Transportation's own data.
Those against the project said that the $186 million price tag is overinflated.
Daly Masternak noted that ODOT is throwing 30% of the budget just on construction contingencies alone, and the fine print says the final price tag still doesn't reflect the cost of moving people out of their homes.
Most recently, she's found models from ODOT's own website that show that serious and fatal crashes are expected to actually increase from this project, something Daly Masternak said that she can't stand for.
"The injuries and fatalities will go up by 29% with their plan. Serious injuries will also increase," said Daly Masternak. "The only thing that might go down are fender benders, but we think lives are more valuable than property."
Daly Masternak's concerns don't stop there. She said the project began with the permission of everyone but the people who live near the corridor.
Recently, ODOT has released its stakeholders list, and no one from the actual neighborhood is listed on it, but people from out of state are.
Daly Masternak said it boils down to a project that could be more trouble than it's worth, but she thinks there's still time to stop it.
"This can be changed because other cities are capping or re-thinking highways across the country. It brings greater economic development to their communities. One community we found took out their highway and it was a billion dollars worth of economic development," said Daly Masternak. "This is not necessary, there are other ways to get to where you need to go that have already been built out. I don't wish this on anybody, but I need to fight for this because this is where I live."
ODOT will be sharing the benefits of this project and clearing up concerns with residents on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at the Epworth Methodist Church in west Toledo. WTOL 11 will be there to get their side of the project.
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