Roughly one out of four sections of county roads scheduled to get a new blacktop this year will remain untouched until after this winter.
Contracts worth $1.19 million were approved last week for 44 projects in the Bartholomew County overlay program.
Milestone Contractors, Inc. of Columbus will receive $1,798,027 to put new asphalt down on 36 sections of county roads, while the eight projects awarded to Dave O’Mara Contractors amount to $91,455.
Both companies previously submitted individual bids for each of the 59 projects, and contracts were individually awarded based on the separate project bids.
But the Bartholomew County commissioners also placed 15 previously announced overlay projects on hold by categorizing them as Phase Two projects. In terms of distance, 27 miles of Phase One projects will get a new blacktop this year, while 11 miles have been temporarily tabled.
For the past two years, delays in placing a new blacktop on weather-worn county roads have caused concerns among the commissioners.
That’s because roads determined to be torn up by freezing and thawing in the early spring become more extensively damaged as another winter passes, commissioners chairman Larry Kleinhenz said earlier.
But there’s nothing county officials can do, because the delays originate at the state level.
While all of Indiana’s 92 counties receive a base amount for Phase One projects, individual counties must apply for additional funding through the state’s Community Crossings matching grant program — and then wait to discover if money will be awarded for Phase Two projects.
The state has awarded sufficient grant money to Bartholomew County the past two years, and Kleinhenz said he believes it will do so again this year.
“But we hesitate to award these final contracts until we actually have the money,” the commissioners chairman said.
Last year’s grant announcement was delayed until late September, and the money didn’t show up in the county’s coffers until four months later.
State officials recently announced they don’t plan to award any grants for Phase Two projects until November, Bartholomew County Highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
Since local asphalt plants typically shut down by Dec. 1, there won’t be time to carry out this year’s Phase Two projects until the following spring, Hollander said.
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The following 15 projects have been placed into Phase Two of the 2018 Bartholomew County Overlay project. Due to changes in a state grant program, these previously announced projects will likely not be paved until spring 2019.
Clay Township
County Road 700 East from 300 North to 400 North, 1 mile
County Road 650 East from 250 North to 300 North, 0.51 miles
Clifty Township
County Road 1050 from East 50 North to 100 North, 0.5 miles
County Road 50 North from 850 East to 1000 East, 1.17 miles
Columbus Township
Huffman Drive from State Road 11 to the East terminus, 0.22 miles
German Township
County Road 950 North from U.S. 31 to West terminus, 0.51 miles
Harrison Township
County Road 675 West from Baker Hollow Road to State Road 46, 0.49 miles
Hawcreek Township
County Road 400 North from 900 East to 1000 East, 1 mile
Jackson Township
County Road 850 South/550 West from 400 West to Spray Road, 1.93 miles
Ohio Township
County Road 525 South from Becks Grove Road to 875 West, 1.09 miles
Rockcreek Township
County Road 1000 East from 300 South to 400 South, 1 mile
Sandcreek Township
County Road 500 South from 250 East 300 to East, 0.49 miles
Wayne Township
County Road 180 West from 1050 South to 1100 South, 0.5 miles
Wayne 275 West 300 South Deaver Road 0.49
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