The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) will invest $13.2 million in a pilot street paving program across 22 communities in Ohio and Kentucky over the next year.
The OKI Board of Directors unanimously approved the new program during its Oct. 9 meeting. It also approved $82 million for 52 projects as part of the agency’s annual infrastructure awards program.
List of funded communities and their paving projects can be found at www.oki.org.
The initiative will allocate funding to 15 communities in Ohio, using Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) funds, and 7 in Kentucky, using Northern Kentucky (SNK) funds.
The funding will enable the repaving of about 62 lane miles of roadways in the OKI region.
“This is a pilot program for the time being,” said OKI Deputy Director Bob Koehler. “We’re excited to see how it can improve regional roads and streets and guide future investments. It’s a chance to test a streamlined process that gets dollars to communities faster and more efficiently.”
OKI CEO Mark Policinski said the program underscores the agency’s commitment to delivering “meaningful improvements” across the region.
“Safe, well-maintained roads are the foundation of regional mobility, economic vitality and quality of life,” Policinski said. “By investing in local infrastructure, we’re helping ensure that families, businesses and first responders can move efficiently and safely throughout our region.”
Across the country, transportation agencies are focused on streamlining project delivery to speed up infrastructure improvements. Federal and state partners are embracing innovative approaches — like OKI’s pilot paving program — to get results on the ground faster.
Following board approval, “the program and its timelines were created to move quickly through the pipeline, which is our goal,” Koehler said.
Because these are federal funds, OKI is working closely with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which will approve final plans for each project.
Approved projects will be added to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs (STIP) for Ohio and Kentucky in January. Construction funding begins July 1, 2026, with all paving projects slated for completion by July 1, 2027.
Member communities drive every federal dollar invested by OKI. All projects proposed and funded by OKI are submitted by local villages, cities, townships, counties or transit agencies. OKI’s entire investment strategy is decided at the community level up — and not from the federal level down.
OKI is a council of local governments, business organizations and community groups committed to developing collaborative strategies, plans and programs to improve the quality of life and economic development potential of the tristate.
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments