“Hey Asphalt! Your slick deals cost Ohio taxpayers millions”

That’s the text of a billboard campaign launched today by PCA Great Lakes Region in Columbus, Ohio, to urge the state DOT to end the practice of using asphalt escalators.

According to a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 2011 report, Ohio paid $36,966,000 in change orders due to adjustments in asphalt prices.  Four projects received more than $1 million in adjustments and the average adjustment was $81,964.  The head of the Ohio DOT, Jerry Wray, recently reinstituted escalators by rescinding a 2010 ODOT order that ended the practice.  Wray previously represented Flexible Pavements of Ohio, the state trade association for asphalt producers and asphalt paving contractors.

More at Think-Harder/Ohio