OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 370 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 370’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the House
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Edwards
Effective date:
Larry Gunter, Jr., Research Analyst
SUMMARY
 Clarifies that the Department of Transportation (ODOT) must do both of the following in
consultation with a village:
 Maintain and repair any section of a state highway within the village’s limits; and
 Apply standard pavement marking lines on any section of a state highway within the
village’s limits.
 Eliminates the requirement that a village request and approve the maintenance, repair,
and line marking prior to ODOT undertaking the work.
 Makes substantial organizational changes for clarity regarding ODOT’s responsibilities for
state highways within a municipal corporation.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
State highways in municipal corporations
Background
With regard to state highways located within a municipal corporation, the Department of
Transportation (ODOT) has different responsibilities based on whether the municipal corporation
is a city or a village and based on the type of activity conducted on the state highway. A village is
a municipal corporation with a population of 4,999 or less. A city is a municipal corporation with
a population of 5,000 or more.1 The following table describes ODOT’s responsibilities for state
highways, under current law, based on the type of municipal corporation and the activity.
1 Ohio Constitution, Article XVIII, Section 1.
July 15, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Re: state highways within a municipal corporation
ODOT Within Village Within City
Maintenance
Required to perform the duty
when requested and authorized Repair N/A
by the municipal corporation
Longitudinal line markings
Maintenance
Construction Repair
Authorized to perform the duty Reconstruction Construction
when requested and authorized
by the municipal corporation Widening Reconstruction
Resurfacing Widening
Resurfacing
ODOT’s responsibilities within a village
Regarding ODOT’s duty to maintain and repair a state highway within a village and its duty
to apply line markings (any line markings, not just longitudinal), the bill eliminates the
requirement that a village must request and approve the work. Rather, ODOT must work in
consultation with the village to ensure those activities are conducted for the relevant state
highways. The bill retains ODOT’s permissive authority, with village authorization, for
construction, reconstruction, widening, improving, and resurfacing state highways within a
village, including the erection of regulatory and warning signs (e.g., speed limit signs).
Additionally, it retains in its entirety ODOT’s permissive authority with regard to all activities on
state highways within a city.2
Organizational changes
In order to better clarify ODOT’s responsibilities with regard to state highways within a
municipal corporation, the bill makes substantial organizational changes to the relevant state
statutes. Those changes include renumbering within sections and divisions, moving language
pertaining to state federal aid highways to its own section of the Revised Code, and making
associated technical changes. While the organizational changes are numerous, other than the
additions to ODOT’s responsibilities described above, the substance of current law’s
requirements remains the same.3
2 R.C. 5521.01; R.C. 4511.11, not in the bill.
3 R.C. 5501.31, 5521.01, 5521.011, and 5521.012.
P a g e |2 H.B. 370
As Passed by the House
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 01-03-24
Reported, H. Transportation 06-25-24
Passed House (97-0) 06-26-24
ANHB0370PH-135/ts
P a g e |3 H.B. 370
As Passed by the House


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 5501.31, 5521.01, 5521.011, 5521.012
As Reported By House Committee: 5501.31, 5521.01, 5521.011, 5521.012
As Passed By House: 5501.31, 5521.01, 5521.011, 5521.012