Seven sections of Bartholomew County roads will get new blacktop this spring.
Four of the locations included in Phase Two of the 2021 Overlay program are located in Wayne Township, along roads and streets near State Road 11. The sections of roads getting a new layer of asphalt are:
In Wayne Township:
County Road 450S, from State Road 11 to County Road 50W
County Road 400S, from State Road 11 to the Columbus city limits at Road 50W.
Deaver Road, from State Road 11 to 243-feet west of Bethel St.
County Road 50W, from Deaver Road to the Columbus city limits.
In Clifty Township:
County Road 1050E, between county roads 100N and 200N.
In Harrison Township:
Baker Hollow Road, from County Road 675W to Wolf Drive.
In Hawcreek Township
County Road 750N, from the Hope town limits to County Road 900E.
“Just to be clear, this is the second phase of the 2021 Community Crossings grant that got us to that $1 million mark maximum,” Bartholomew County Commissioner Tony London said.
London is referring to the maximum amount each Indiana county may receive annually over two phases of the Community Crossings grant program.
On Nov. 3, Bartholomew County government received word that they would match a 50-50 matching grant through Phase Two. When state and local matches are combined, it will provide a total of $137,210 to repave these seven sections of rural roads.
However, it often takes several weeks after awards are announced before state funds obtained through the Indiana Department of Transportation grant program are delivered to the county. By the time the money was actually received, the asphalt plants has already been closed for the winter season.
So the county will advertise for bids from local contractors two times this month and open all proposals on Jan. 31, county highway superintendent Dwight Smith said.
While a bid could be awarded in a matter of weeks, the actual road work cannot begin until the asphalt plants reopen in early spring, county Highway Engineer Danny Hollander said.
Last June, the county received a $862,790 matching grant for Phase One of the 2021 program. When it was matched with local funds, the county was able to spend $1,725,580 to repave 30 sections of road that totaled 22.16 miles.
The county highway department will wait until Smith inspects more than 700 miles of county road in April before creating a Phase One overlay list for this year.
