Every project placed on Bartholomew County’s 2023 overlay program should be fixed this year, county highway engineer Danny Hollander said Monday.
Crews from Milestone Contracting Inc. completed new blacktop on County Road 400W, from County Road 700S to State Road 58 (2.15 miles) on Monday.
That leaves only two unfinished projects from both Phase I and Phase II of this year’s program, Hollander said.
- County Road 350E, from County Road 250S to State Road 46 (0.26 mile).
- County Road 650W, from State Road 46 to Baker Hollow Road (0.75 miles).
The long-term delays stem from the way a matching state grant program is administered. Under the Community Crossings program, both Bartholomew County and Columbus city governments pay half the costs of specific road, street and bridge repairs while matching grants administered by the Indiana Dept.of Transportation pay for the other half.
Usually, the Bartholomew County Highway Department applies for Phase I funding in January or February. County officials then wait until mid-to-late spring to learn whether the matching grant has been awarded.
This year, the county received its maximum annual allotment of $1 million for Phase I. After 30 days of legal notices, bid openings and the awarding of the contract, Milestone was told to work on the overlays anytime before the end of the year. The idea is that the contractor offers a lower bid in exchange for an open schedule.
Phase I consisted of 16.5 miles of road spread out over 15 projects. The largest was the 5.5 mile stretch of East 25th Street, from Boohers Court near the Columbus city limits east to State Road 9.
The delays in recent years are caused by the timetable established by the state for Phase II, when a list of projects is submitted after county highway superintendent Dwight Smith inspects more than 700 miles of roads. Phase II applications are usually accepted in July, leaving local units of government waiting until either late October or early November to find out if INDOT has approved their Phase II proposals.
But when the 30 day wait begin that late in the year, the contracts are often signed after asphalt plants close for the season. The contractor is left with no choice by to wait until the following spring to begin the Phase II projects.
This year was different. Money from the county’s allocation of federal dollars through the American Rescue Plan left sufficient economic development income tax revenue for the county to pay for Phase II themselves.
As a result, bids on Phase II, which include 20 projects consisting of 11 miles of projects, were opened on July 31 and the contract awarded in August.
While the completion of both phases within the same year is good news for rural motorists, inflation made the 2023 overlay very expensive. This year, the county paid about $110,000 a mile for the new blacktop. That’s up from about $50,000 just six years ago, Hollander said.
