Columbus and Bartholomew County are receiving nearly $1.6 million in state funding designated for local road projects in 2019.
The city received $1 million, while Bartholomew County received nearly $589,471 through the Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative, which provides state matching funds to local governments for construction projects.
Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Indiana Department of Transportation announced that 283 Indiana cities, towns and counties had received $100 million in state-matching funds through the program.
Community Crossings was created by the Indiana General Assembly two years ago with funding for the program awarded by the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund.
Columbus plans to use its share of funding to make improvements next year on County Road 400N, 13th Street, a portion of Central Avenue, Cessna Drive, Interlake and Inwood drives, in addition to Cunningham Drive, among others, said Dave Hayward, executive director of public works/city engineer.
Columbus received $349,816 in Community Crossings funding last year.
Bartholomew County will put the funding into its highway fund for work it plans to complete in 2019, said Danny Hollander, Bartholomew County highway engineer.
Out of 10 roads that were submitted with the county’s application for funding, all but three of them — Talley Road, County Road 100S and County Road 850S — have already been paved. Work is on track to be completed before the end of the month, Hollander said.
The county receives most of its funding for local road and infrastructure improvements through a gasoline tax. That funding comes from the state and is distributed to local government entities based on a formula, Hollander said.
He added that the Community Crossings funds will help the county complete work it otherwise might not be able to do.
“That will be another 10 miles of roads,” Hollander said.
This marks the third year Bartholomew County has received Community Crossings funding after it received $836,011 in 2017 and $999,255 in 2016, Hollander said.
The county had submitted three Community Crossings applications this year in hopes of receiving $1 million, but only one of them was approved, Hollander said. The county has put together a list of projects for 2019, but those could change depending on the type of winter the area receives, he said.
Since the roads it submitted to the state are already paved, the county will use its money toward overlay projects to be completed next year, Hollander said. That will include overlay work at Southern Crossing on county roads 400S and 450S.
Community Crossings, now in its third year, has awarded nearly $400 million in state matching funds. A total of 444 communities across the state applied for funding this year, according to the state.
“Community Crossings helps cities, towns and counties take care of what they have and plan for the future,” INDOT commissioner Joe McGuinness said. “Three years into the program, the state has partnered with local governments to improve thousands of road miles and dozens of bridges. The impact has been significant and felt across all 92 counties and I’m excited for that impact to continue with this round of projects.”
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Community Crossings was created by the Indiana General Assembly in 2016 with funds being awarded from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund.
To qualify for funding, local governments must provide local matching funds — 50 percent for larger communities or 25 percent for smaller communities from a funding source approved for road and bridge construction, according to the state. They must also submit an Indiana Department of Transportation-approved asset management plan for maintaining existing roads and bridges.
Source: State of Indiana
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