Columbus to help Toyota with Deaver Road improvements

The city of Columbus will spend more than $1.1 million in upgrades to Deaver Road as part of a package meant to help Toyota Material Handling with its $100 million plant expansion there.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission brought the project to the City Council this week, asking to spend the money to support more industrial traffic in the area. Those include widening roads and installing ditches along County Roads 225W and 300S, re-aligning County Road 225W and adding a crosswalk across Deaver Road, widening Deaver Road and installing a new sanitary sewer line to the plant.

In May, Toyota broke ground on the planned expansion which would add a new 295,000 square foot plant for electric forklifts and add 85 manufacturing jobs. Company executives said that about 65 percent of the forklift market had turned to electric products. Production is expected to start at the new plant in 2026.

The city has since annexed and rezoned the site of the new plant.

The money for the street improvements would come from the city’s Central Tax Increment Financing allocation area.

The city has set limits on the redevelopment commission, requiring City Council approve of any spending of more than $500 thousand dollars.

Council approved the expenditure at its meeting Tuesday night.