HANCOCK COUNTY — Three Hancock County towns received a combined $1.4 million in matching grants from the state for infrastructure improvements, the Indiana Department of Transportation announced Wednesday. Town officials say they’ll use the funding to resurface older streets in their areas.
The Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative, organized through INDOT and Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office, recently awarded $100 million to 283 Indiana cities, towns and counties. That includes $659,343 to McCordsville; $663,253 to Cumberland; and $100,990 to New Palestine, an INDOT news release states. Each Hancock County town has to match 25 percent of the grant with local funding.
Ryan Crum, director of planning and building for McCordsville, said a portion of the more-than-half-a-million-dollar grant the town received from the state will be spent on milling and resurfacing County Road 600W, also called Mt. Comfort Road, from the railroad north of U.S. 36 to 96th Street. The rest of the funding will go toward a resurfacing project on County Road 600N, spanning the western to eastern boundaries of the town.
Crum said the grant funding provides towns, especially a fast-growing town like McCordsville, with more money to use on infrastructure than it could spend from a yearly budget. He said officials in McCordsville, which was incorporated 30 years ago, want to be proactive in improving roads and other infrastructure.
In New Palestine, the town received $100,990. New Palestine’s street commissioner, Steve Pool, said the town plans to rehabilitate sections of old streets downtown, between 450W and 500W, also called Gem Road.
Pool said the Community Crossings grant also assists in revamping sidewalks and Americans with Disabilities Act-accommodated crosswalks.
Community Crossings was created by the Indiana General Assembly in 2016, according to the INDOT press release. Funds for the program are awarded from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund. State law requires annually that 50 percent of the available matching funds be awarded to communities within counties with a population of 50,000 or fewer.
Beginning in 2019, INDOT will offer two calls for projects per year, the release states. INDOT will accept project applications in January and July each year, with a given community being eligible to apply for up to $1 million once per year during the call of their choice.
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Community Crossing grants awarded to Hancock County towns
McCordsville — $659,343
Cumberland — $663,253.47
New Palestine — $100,990
Source: Indiana Department of Transportation
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