County pushing to expedite $1.5 million in Community Crossings Grant funding

The county has secured $1.5 million in Community Crossings grant funding, marking its most significant award to date from the program. The funds, representing 75 percent of the total project costs, will enable the county to complete just over $2 million in road improvements.

“That’s our most to date,” County Engineer Brent Wendholt told the commissioners on Monday.

Here are the projects being partially funded by the Community Crossings Grant.

Schnellville Road, Bainbridge & Marion Townships – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
Dubois Cuzco Road, Columbia Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
Old Petersburg Road, Boone Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
Old Road 45, Harbison Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
600 North, Harbison Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
490 West, Madison Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
580 North, Boone Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
400 South, Jackson Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
50 East, Jackson Township — HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
Rustic Acres Road, Marion Township – HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay
1200 South, Cass Township — HMA Wedge/Level and Overlay

The projects will be bid at the next commission meeting scheduled for April 7 at 9:00 a.m., with officials hoping to expedite the process to access funding sooner.

“I was notified by INDOT and they kind of want to push them through because if I can bid them April 7th, I’m able to award them at that meeting and get that ball rolling,” Wendholt explained. “We can get our funding sooner.”

During the meeting, commissioners received a roadway plan packet outlining how the INDOT and county funds would be allocated. While the plan is not yet finalized, the current allocation shows that Districts 2 and 3 each receive approximately $1.5 million in improvements, while District 1 is currently allocated just over $1 million.

To address this imbalance, officials propose directing additional resources to District 1.

“We have $220,000, so we would like to add additional paving project and then do a chip seal overlay in District 1 to help bring them up,” Wendholt told the commissioners.

The success of previous chip seal projects has contributed to the availability of these additional funds.

The meeting also addressed the annual operations report for local roads and bridges, which details all receipts and disbursements for 2024. After review, commissioners found no issues with the report. Finding no issues with the annual operations report, commissioners moved to approve and sign the document.

The Community Crossings grant program, administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation, provides funding for road improvement projects throughout the state. The program typically requires local governments to provide matching funds, with the state covering a significant portion of project costs.