Bill to name new bridge over Maumee still up in air

5/2/2002

COLUMBUS - It's a bridge under construction with no name.

In September, state Reps. Lynn Olman (R., Maumee) and Jeanine Perry (D., Toledo) said they would introduce a bill soon to name the new I-280 bridge over the Maumee River the Veterans Memorial Skyway.

But the bill has not been introduced, and it is unclear when it will be.

“We are waiting for the appropriate opportunity to introduce the bill,” Mr. Olman said yesterday.

Mr. Olman and Mrs. Perry were members of a local panel that solicited and reviewed public suggestions for the bridge's name.

A subcommittee reported that Veterans Memorial Bridge and Glass City Skyway received the most votes in mail-in balloting during three weeks in late July and early August, 2001. Area legislators chose a compromise: Veterans Memorial Skyway.

That rankled Cathy Mott, the naming subcommittee's chairwoman, who said she believed both names would be forwarded for discussion by the legislature.

Mr. Olman said he did not know when a bill would be introduced to name the bridge.