Columbus has taken another step toward making its final payment for a railroad overpass that will be built over the intersection of State Road 46 and State Road 11 on the city’s west side.
Columbus City Council members on Tuesday authorized the Columbus Redevelopment Commission to transfer $4.6 million in Central TIF District funds to a city-run pool of money that has been dispersing the local portion of funding for the project to the Indiana Department of Transportation, who is overseeing the project.
Before the payment can be dispersed, the city council still needs to approve appropriating the money to INDOT, and the city needs to receive authorization from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance to send the funds to INDOT, said Heather Pope, director of redevelopment for the city of Columbus.
The final payment is due at the beginning of December.
“This gets us in position to make that payment,” said Dave Hayward, executive director of public works/city engineer.
The city’s payment, however, will be $2.6 million higher than what was originally projected.
Initially, INDOT’s cost estimate for the project was $30 million, and the city is responsible for putting together half of the project’s cost, or $15 million, according to the terms of an interlocal agreement between the city and INDOT. The state will pay for the other half of the project’s costs.
The city has partnered with Cummins, Bartholomew County and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX Railroads to defray around half of the local funding requirements in the interlocal agreement, city officials said.
However, in September, INDOT raised its construction cost estimate for the project from $30 million to $35.3 million, raising the city’s share from $15 million to around $17.6 million.
The increased cost estimate accounts for right-of-way acquisition costs that were higher than expected and rising construction costs.
According to a memorandum by Pope, the city and its partners have, to date, collectively paid $13 million for the project — or $4.6 million less than the $17.6 million the city and its partners are projected to be paying.
The Central TIF District has paid $4 million for the project so far, and the Cummins Plant 1 TIF District has paid $5.5 million. Bartholomew County has contributed $2 million, and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX Railroads have chipped in $1.5 million collectively.
Pope said the entire $4.6 million will come from the Central TIF District, raising the total amount from the Central TIF District to $8.6 million, or roughly 25% of the project’s total cost.
“Even though the agreement that we have with INDOT says that the city pays half, because of the partners we got — Cummins, TIF, the county, the railroads themselves — the actual portion the city pays is closer to 25%,” Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said after the city council meeting.
The city council is expected to take up the appropriation of funds for the railroad overpass project during its meetings on Nov. 6 and Nov. 19, Pope said.
The new interchange will allow motorists to avoid being slowed or stopped because of increasing railroad traffic projected to occur on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad tracks which pass through Columbus.
Overall completion of the overpass project is expected in mid-2021. Hayward said earlier that landscaping and other finishing work will continue through 2022.
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The Columbus City Council is expected to consider the appropriation of funds for the railroad overpass project during its meetings on Nov. 6 and Nov. 19.
If the city council approves the appropriation of funds, the city will seek authorization from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance to transfer the funds to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
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