If you drive I-475 every day, you already know the deal — the bypass that was supposed to be the fast way around Toledo turns into a parking lot at the worst possible times. Now there’s finally money on the table to do something about it.

The Ohio Department of Transportation’s funding council released a draft list of major projects on November 10, and the Interstate 475 widening project in the Toledo area is on it. The proposal would send $1.5 million in fiscal year 2028 toward right-of-way work — the first concrete step toward adding capacity to the 20-mile bypass that loops around Toledo’s west side from Perrysburg to I-75 north of downtown. The Columbus Dispatch

Let’s be honest about what this is — and what it isn’t. This is draft funding for buying land and preparing the project, not bulldozers on the ground next month. But after years of talk about widening one of northwest Ohio’s busiest commuter routes, I-475 is now officially on the state’s funded-project list instead of just a wish list.

The list covers 13 major projects statewide totaling $46.7 million, all under ODOT’s Major New Capacity Program for projects that cost more than $12 million and are meant to cut congestion. Toledo’s $1.5 million sits alongside big-ticket items like a $32 million interchange project in Delaware County and a $9.6 million SmartLane project in Cincinnati. The Columbus Dispatch

Here’s the part that matters for Toledo drivers: the list isn’t final yet. The council is accepting public comments until December 9 at trac@dot.ohio.gov, and it votes on the final list December 17. If you’ve got opinions about I-475 — and if you drive it, you do — now is the time to send them.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.