On February 24th, Clean Fuels Ohio (CFO) and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) submitted a detailed corridor signage application to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) nominating major highways in Ohio as signage ready or signage pending alternative fuel “corridors” based on the level of publicly available fueling infrastructure in proximity to these highways. Signage-ready corridors have the necessary amount of charging/fueling infrastructure already on the corridors for specific fuel types, and signage-pending corridors do not meet the qualifications but will be a focus for additional infrastructure in the future.
This is the fifth round of nominations the FHWA has sought on “alternative fuel corridors” and builds on prior work conducted by Clean Fuels Ohio and MORPC to designate electric vehicle and natural gas vehicle charging corridors. For this fifth round of nominations, CFO was able to leverage the robust existing network of publicly available propane autogas stations throughout the state to update the portfolio of Alternative Fuel Corridors designated in Ohio to include propane autogas.
Corridor nominations must focus on near- and long-term needs for expanding electric vehicle, propane, natural gas, and hydrogen charging and fueling infrastructure on major interstates and highways throughout the United States to assist with commercial and individual vehicle adoption of alternative fuels. Furthermore, designations are crucial in determining allocations of additional funding for charging and fueling infrastructure in the future.
In previous rounds, CFO and MORPC submitted nominations for compressed natural gas corridors and electric vehicle charging corridors throughout Ohio. For the recent fifth round nominations, CFO and MORPC focused on propane autogas infrastructure throughout the state. Corridors nominated for propane autogas include: I-70 from the Indiana state line to the West Virginia state line; I-71 from Cincinnati to Cleveland, OH; and I-75 from Cincinnati to Toledo, OH, among others. Taken together, 8 corridors were nominated for a signage-ready designation and 2 corridors were nominated for a signage-pending designation for propane autogas in Ohio.
In addition to adding new propane autogas corridors, CFO and MORPC’s Round 5 nominations also involved updating a number of DCFC corridors to signage-ready that were designated signage-pending during the Round 3 Request for Nominations. These corridors included: I-70 from Columbus to Cambridge, OH; I-71, US-30, and US-62 from Columbus to Canton, OH; and I-80 from Elyria to Girard, OH, among others. In total, CFO and MORPC nominated 11 corridors in Ohio for a signage-ready designation, and 1 corridor for a signage-pending designation.
