Repairs on tap for 30 miles of county roads
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More than 30 miles of Bartholomew County roads will receive improvements over the next two years thanks to more than $2 million in federal highway funds and more than $500,000 from a state accounting error.
The Bartholomew County Commissioners said Monday that the final leg of the County Road 600N project, to better link U.S. 31 and State Road 9, could be completed because of $2.1 million in federal funds. The county must pay $400,000.
The commissioners also amended the county’s capital improvement plan for this year to include the $571,363 of Economic Development Income Tax funds the state incorrectly withheld from the county, but has returned. All but $30,000 of the EDIT funds will be used for road overlay projects.
The County Road 600N project started in 1998 and has reconstructed the road so it is wider and has new shoulders.
A small portion in front of the former Cross Cliff Primary School west to Marr Road remains to be improved.
Earlier work
In the early 1990s, similar work was done to County Road 550N from U.S. 31 east to Marr Road, County Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said.
When County Road 600N is finished, it and County Road 550N will allow people to cut across the northern part of the county from the highway to Hope, with just a slight jog on Marr Road connecting the two roads.
Bartholomew County Engineer Danny Hollander said work would begin next spring and finish by the end of 2013.
Kleinhenz said the project has taken so long because the county always has made sure to obtain federal funding as the primary source of money, so it doesn’t have to pay as much.
This year, overlay projects are planned for 54 sections of county roads, and chip-and-seal projects are planned for 37 sections. In total, the projects cost about $1.9 million.
The EDIT money returned from the state gives Bartholomew County more money for road maintenance and is allowing Bartholomew County to overlay more miles of county roads than in any year since 2000.
Safe Routes to School
Also Monday, the Commissioners approved the county’s Safe Routes to School Plan.
That will help the committee in charge of the plan when it applies for grants, because it now has the approval of the city and county governments and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
County road maintenance history
Cost histories for overlay and chip-and-seal projects:
Overlay
2000: $586,070 for 18.63 miles
2001: $725,887 for 22.01 miles
2002: $599,444 for 16.46 miles
2003: $794,169 for 21.31 miles
2004: $660,905 for 16.29 miles
2005: $790,366 for 18.06 miles
2006: $1,009,576 for 17.14 miles
2007: $1,010,794 for 16.01 miles
2008: $672,963 for 8.09 miles
2009: $0
2010: $1,056,050 for 18.08 miles
2011: $1,124,218 for 26.99 miles
2012: $1,567,000 for 30.28 miles
Chip and seal
2000: $130,686 for 37.86 miles
2001: $100,881 for 30.27 miles
2002: $152,479 for 41.50 miles
2003: $150,163 for 35.35 miles
2004: $148,205 for 37.90 miles
2005: $201,881 for 52.46 miles
2006: $219,077 for 45.1 miles
2007: $188,333 for 41.4 miles
2008: $233,504 for 33.4 miles
2009: $387,059 for 56.9 miles
2010: $320,615 for 46.2 miles
2011: $300,009 for 41.6 miles
2012: $330,000 for 40 miles
Source: Bartholomew County Engineer Danny Hollander
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