Stimulus Forces Nelsonville To Rethink Future

By: Associated Press | NBC4i.com
Published: August 09, 2009

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NELSONVILLE, Ohio -- A small city that is a hub for Appalachian artists is coming to grips with its stake in President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package.

The $150 million going to complete a highway bypass around Nelsonville in southeast Ohio is the highway department's biggest stimulus investment. The investment is challenging business leaders to prevent the city from becoming invisible once construction is completed in 2012.

The new four-lane highway on U.S. Route 33 will give motorists from Columbus, Ohio, to the Charleston, W.Va., area a faster option. But it threatens to divert potential shoppers from the eclectic mix of art studios, galleries and crafts stores downtown.

The bypass is among about 210 state transportation projects scheduled to get $774 million in federal stimulus money.