In The News

Ohio ballot results on transportation issues

Voters throughout Ohio cast ballots a week ago on various issues of local relevance. In more than 70 communities covering at least 40 counties voters decided on transportation issues.

Ballots in three Ohio cities included questions to decide the fate of ticket cameras in their communities.

Speed and red-light cameras were under the gun in the city of Ashtabula . A question on the local ballot asked whether police officers should be required to be present to issue tickets.

Law enforcement in the northeast Ohio town has cameras posted at four intersections. One mobile unit also is in operation.

Issue 54 on the Ashtabula ballot was approved by voters, which signals the demise of the enforcement method.

East Cleveland voters, however, chose to stick up for the 10 red-light and speed cameras in their community. More than 54 percent of ballots cast on Issue 49 were in favor of the technology.

The win for ticket cameras marks the first time in about 20 elections throughout the country that voters in a community have supported their presence.

Campaigning by city officials appears to have done the trick. The town’s mayor had threatened cuts to police and fire department staff if voters opted to get rid of the $1-million-a-year revenue generator.

In nearby South Euclid , the city uses one mobile speed camera in neighborhoods where residents complain of speeders. Voters approved Issue 97 to authorize the city charter to be amended to limit the use of cameras.

There are not any ticket cameras in the Village of Mantua , but there are large trucks. Voters in the village of 1,141 people located northeast of Akron rejected a proposed ordinance to prohibit through truck traffic from traveling on residential streets. If approved through truck traffic would have been defined as any truck over 5 tons using residential streets without stopping to conduct business.

A city spokesperson told Land Line that Issue 45 on the local ballot was written to apply to large trucks, but it would have also included pickup trucks with equipment loaded in the back.

Cincinnati voters decided the fate of a proposed streetcar system. Voters rejected an effort to prohibit City Hall from building a streetcar system through 2020.

As planned, the $100 million streetcar line would link downtown Cincinnati to the Over-the-Rhine historic district.

Elsewhere, the majority of communities with transportation questions on their ballots decided whether to renew road levies.

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