MOUNT GILEAD — Although the economy has slowed things down, the long-planned widening of a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 71 in Morrow County has not been moved to the back burner, officials of the Ohio Department of Transportation said Monday.

Regional local government officials met with representatives of ODOT and the Ohio Department of Development in a meeting in Mount Gilead, arranged by State Rep. Margaret Ann Ruhl.

Ruhl called the meeting after concerns were expressed that the planned expansion of I-71 in Morrow County to three lanes on both sides of the highway was not going to take place. The original plan was to expand the road to six lanes from Cleveland to Columbus. The Morrow County stretch is the last part of the project to be completed.

Concerns about future economic development in the region brought a turnout of around 60 people to the meeting, including representatives from Morrow, Knox and Richland counties.

Knox County Commissioner Allen Stockberger said he felt ODOT took a defensive stand in the meeting, using numerous graphics and charts to point out that ODOT has spent $82 million in Morrow County in the last five years. According to commissioner Robert Wise, ODOT officials denied that the widening project had been canceled, forgotten or put on the back burner.

“They said it was still a priority, but that the funding just wasn’t there this year,” Wise said.

Ruhl said ODOT promised to re-evaluate the situation in July.

“I’ll definitely do some follow up,” Ruhl said. “If they don’t contact me, I’ll contact them.”