Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Director Pamela Boratyn announced details of a plan to address the truck parking shortage in the state:
At least 1,400 new truck parking spaces are expected by 2027.
New and updated facilities will be spread across 33 sites in 19 counties around Ohio.
The plan will more than double current truck parking capacity at ODOT-maintained sites.
“By expanding safe, accessible places for drivers to rest, we’re supporting the people who keep our economy moving and making it safer for everyone on our roads,” Governor DeWine said.
Parking sites to be created or expanded include existing rest areas and weigh stations, as well as areas around specific interchanges. They're spread across the state in Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Belmont, Clermont, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Guernsey, Henry, Lake, Mahoning, Medina, Ross, Summit, Warren and Wyandot counties. Once complete, ODOT said, the American Transportation Research Institute projected Ohio would lead the nation in the total number of long-term truck parking spaces available on state-owned property. Find a detailed list of the planned expansions via this link.ODOT
[Related: Not another study! The time is now: Build truck parking capacity]
In 2023 alone, trucks logged 27.5 million miles on Ohio roads, ODOT said, estimating freight volume would increase 26% by 2045, necessitating more available parking.
“Ohio's new truck parking plan is a major step forward in improving safety for truck drivers and everyone on the road,” said ODOT Director Pamela Boratyn.
The expansion is funded by $150 million from the state's current transportation budget, passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor earlier in the year. Construction will begin in 2026, with all work expected to be complete by the end of 2027. Each site will include lighting and restroom facilities to support driver safety and comfort.
Truck Specialized Information Services Director of Engagement Scott Grenerth, a former owner-operator who also happens to be an Ohio resident, called his home state's move a direct result of a change in leadership at the very top of the state government. A longtime truck-parking-expansion advocate, Grenerth was heartened by the state's announcement, noting "absolutely no other state has done anything like this so this quickly."
It's enabled, Grenerth feels, by unpopular positions the governor's been willing to take to fund transportation in the state. One of the first things DeWine and state legislators undertook after taking office in 2019 was an increase to state fuel taxes on both gasoline and diesel, Grenerth noted. Those traditional means of raising money for road funding are a sharp contrast to the example of the neighboring state of Indiana, where legislators have recently taken up tolling of existing routes in the most recent session as a means of funding for roads.
Because of collection-efficient fuel-tax funding, Grenerth said, Ohio's "able to do things like this" truck parking expansion. And get creative with it, too. He pointed to a big truck corridor off-interstate at U.S. Highway 6 and County Road 424, where ODOT will use "infield" areas at the interchange to add a new facility.
The parking expansion in Ohio builds on efforts of the recent past -- the 2019 launch of a parking information system, for instance, and a 2022 conversion of more than a dozen unused weigh stations into truck parking areas, creating 144 new spaces. A total 401 new truck parking spots emerged from a 2023 overhaul of the state's rest area system, and in 2024 two abandoned rest areas -- in Preble and Trumbull counties -- were repurposed for dedicated parking, adding 138 spaces.
Current truck parking inventory in Ohio, ODOT said, stood at 14,200 truck spaces statewide, most located at privately owned truck stops or other businesses.
