The State of Ohio owns the land under the Ohio Turnpike, but an independent state agency called the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission runs the 241-mile toll road, controls its finances, and sets its own rates. The split matters: title to the real estate sits with the state, while operational authority, revenue, and debt belong to the Commission. Neither the Governor nor the legislature writes the Commission a check, and no private company holds a stake in the road.
The Land Belongs to the State
Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5537 draws a clean line between real estate and everything else. Fee-simple title to the land under the turnpike is held “in the name of the state for the use of the commission.” Personal property and lesser interests in real property, such as easements or leases, are held in the Commission’s own name.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537 – Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission A 1953 Ohio Attorney General opinion confirmed that all land acquired for the turnpike was taken in fee simple in the state’s name, and the practice has continued under the current statute.2Ohio Attorney General. Opinions of the Attorney General of Ohio 1953
The Commission can also acquire private property through eminent domain when it needs land for construction, expansion, or operations. A taking must follow the procedures in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 163, and the owner must receive full compensation.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537 – Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission So the state owns the dirt, the Commission controls what happens on it, and the Commission can force a land sale when necessary to keep the system running.
The Commission Runs Everything Else
The statute describes the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission as “a body both corporate and politic, constituting an instrumentality of the state,” and declares that everything it does in building, operating, and maintaining the turnpike qualifies as an “essential governmental function.”1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537 – Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission That phrase packs in a lot. “Body corporate and politic” means the Commission can sign contracts, sue or be sued, and hold property in its own name, much like a private corporation. “Instrumentality of the state” means it is still a government entity, subject to public accountability and sovereign immunity protections.
Until 2013, the agency was simply the Ohio Turnpike Commission. House Bill 51 renamed it, expanded the board, and gave it authority to issue bonds for infrastructure projects beyond the turnpike itself, like highways and bridges elsewhere in Ohio.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Bill Analysis – HB 51, 130th General Assembly
Financially, the Commission operates entirely outside Ohio’s general fund. Its revenue comes from tolls, service-plaza fees, investment income, and grants. State tax dollars do not flow to the turnpike, and the statute’s definition of “revenues” explicitly excludes state taxes.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537 – Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission Staffing, snow removal, repaving, bridge repairs, and bond payments all come from that self-generated revenue. A state budget shortfall cannot starve the turnpike of maintenance money, but the Commission has to generate enough toll income to cover every expense on its own.
Who Sits on the Commission
The Commission has ten members. Six are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Ohio Senate, and no more than three can belong to the same political party. Those appointed members serve five-year terms.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537.02 – Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission The seventh voting member is the Director of Transportation, who serves in an ex-officio capacity.5Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission. Commission/Staff
Three additional members sit on the board but cannot vote: the Director of Budget and Management, one state senator appointed by the senate president, and one state representative appointed by the speaker of the house.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537.02 – Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission The bipartisan appointment rule and the mix of executive-branch officials and legislative observers keep any single faction from dominating turnpike policy, while the Director of Transportation’s voting seat ties the turnpike into the broader state highway system.
What Bondholders Own
Investors who buy the Commission’s revenue bonds do not own any piece of the turnpike itself. What they hold is a legal claim to the toll revenue pledged as security for those bonds. The Commission maintains two tiers of debt: Senior Lien bonds, which fund capital improvements to the turnpike, and Junior Lien bonds, which pay for infrastructure projects elsewhere in Ohio authorized under House Bill 51.6Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission. Financial Stewardship
Bondholder protections in ORC 5537.08 are unusually muscular. If the Commission defaults, any bondholder or trustee can go to court to compel performance of the Commission’s duties, block unlawful activities, or seek the appointment of a receiver to take over revenue administration. That receiver would have full authority to collect and distribute toll revenue toward debt service. But the statute explicitly forbids the receiver from pledging additional Commission funds, taking possession of the turnpike itself, or ordering a sale of any turnpike property.7Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537.08 – Issuing Revenue Bonds Bondholders can reach the cash flow but never the road.
Could It Ever Be Privatized or Made Free
In 2012, Governor Kasich floated a public-private partnership for the turnpike, speculating it could raise $2.4 billion for the state. The administration hired KPMG to study the idea, looking partly at Indiana’s experience leasing its toll road to a private operator in 2006. That Indiana deal eventually ended in the operator’s bankruptcy, which made Ohio lawmakers nervous. Instead of privatizing, the General Assembly passed House Bill 51 in 2013, which kept the turnpike fully public and expanded the Commission’s bonding authority to fund infrastructure projects across the state.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Bill Analysis – HB 51, 130th General Assembly Nothing in current law prevents a future legislature from revisiting privatization, but outstanding bond covenants restrict how pledged revenues can be redirected, which makes a lease or sale considerably more complicated than it was in 2012.
Many drivers assume that once the bonds are paid off, the turnpike should become a free highway. That was originally the deal. A 1964 agreement among the Commission, ODOT, and the Federal Highway Administration required the turnpike to become free to the public once outstanding bonds were redeemed. Those bonds were fully redeemed on June 1, 1992. By then, the rules had changed. In 1991, Ohio passed legislation permitting tolls to continue after all bonds were paid, and in 1992 the tripartite agreement was modified to cancel the free-road requirement.8Ohio Auditor of State. 2024 Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission Annual Comprehensive Financial Report
Current law makes the arrangement permanent. ORC 5537.21 provides that once bond service charges on a turnpike project have been paid or provided for, the project “shall continue to be operated, and improved and maintained, by the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission as a part of the Ohio turnpike system and as a toll road.” Tolls must remain high enough to cover ongoing maintenance and operational costs.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5537 – Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission Under existing Ohio law, the turnpike is not becoming a free road.