Kasich wants Strickland to stop work on 3C rail project
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In a news release from the Office of Governor-Elect John Kasich and Lt. Governor-Elect Mary Taylor, Ohio's next governor is asking Gov. Ted Strickland to stop plans for the 3C (Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland) passenger rail project.
It was noted in the news release that Wisconsin's outgoing Democratic governor, Jim Doyle, has asked contractors to stop work on a planned high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison, Wisc. The order came after Scott Walker, a Republican critic of the train project, was elected governor.
"Strickland and his transportation director, Jolene Molitoris, should sever the 3C contracts right away," said Rob Nichols, the Kasich-Taylor press secretary.
"Given that the train is dead under John (Kasich), no additional state or taxpayer dollars should be spent on this project," Nichols said.
Nichols forwarded a Columbus Dispatch article by James Nash to The Highland County Press.
The Dispatch article says "Kasich wants the Ohio Department of Transportation to terminate contracts with two consultants valued at up to $25 million. That money would come out of $400 million in federal stimulus funds that Ohio was awarded this year to restart passenger train service along the I-71 corridor."
Scott Varner, a spokesman for Molitoris, told Nash that the Ohio Department of Transportation is not terminating the 3C contracts.