Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in Beavercreek Tuesday to highlight his final budget proposal as state governor. The $66.9 billion, two-year budget plan was released on Monday.
Kasich chose the Riverside Research firm as his backdrop to talk about the new budget’s focus on technology and data analytics.
"This drive towards technology, towards innovation, towards excitement, towards employment, towards changing the very face of the the great state of Ohio, is really where we want to be,” Kasich said.
The governor’s budget includes funding for two so-called “smart highway” projects. One would be along the Interstate-270 beltway in Columbus, the other on Interstate 90 in northeast Ohio.
Other transportation projects in the governor’s budget include self-driving technologies and new traffic-management techniques, including new variable speed limits along state highways.
After Kasich’s speech, Ohio Transportation Director Jerry Wray praised the governor’s dedication to infrastructure during his time in office.
“Gov. Kasich gets it. He understands the importance of transportation. He understands it’s sort of the life-blood of the community."
Wray says, by the time he leaves office in two years, Gov. Kasich will have designated more than $16 billion for Ohio roadways.
