HANCOCK COUNTY — While potholes are still on drivers’ minds as spring approaches, the county’s engineer says help is on the way for much bigger jobs.
The Hancock County Highway Department plans to spend about $28.7 million of local dollars and $44.7 million of federal funds — totaling $73.4 million — to pay for several road and bridge projects from 2019 to 2024. Some of those projects include rehabilitating sections of Mt. Comfort Road, also called County Road 600W.
But in order for those projects to remain feasible, Hancock County engineer Gary Pool said crews must keep to a seven-year maintenance plan for the 700 miles of county roads, balancing taxpayer dollars spent on fixing roads each year with the need for substantial road and bridge projects down the line.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallerySince the seven-year plan began in 2014, Pool said they’ve seen success in improving county infrastructure. The department, he says, is receiving fewer pothole complaints and vehicle damage claims.
“We like to touch each road every seven years at least,” Pool said.
The highway department in 2019 plans to chip-seal several roads, including County Road 600E, from Indiana 234 to U.S. 40; 250N, from 600E to 850E; and 100S from Morristown Pike to 400E. Some roads that will get crack-sealed include: 400N, from 50E to 300E; 300N, between 100W and Indiana 9; and 500W, from 200S to New Palestine city limits.
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The county spends about $4 million on maintenance each year, Pool said. Crews crack-seal and chip-seal roads and pave others entirely or in sections. Each type of county road, from multiple lanes to gravel and dirt surfaces in some rural parts of Hancock County, receives different maintenance treatments based on their use and condition, Pool said. Most roads are worn down from trucks and farm equipment.
It takes the department about a month to catch up on road issues each winter. Pool said they’d rather spend time fixing roads permanently once the weather is warmer rather than temporarily patching potholes in the midst of freeze-thaw conditions. The latter half of this winter, like most in the Midwest, has fluctuated in temperature. He said highway crews typically will have potholes under control by May.
“Be patient with us in the spring,” Pool added.
The county mostly funds road maintenance through the county’s motor vehicle fund, which receives state funding from gas taxes. In 2017, the gas tax rose 10 cents, from 18 to 28 cents. The increase has generated about $1.2 billion more annually to fix Indiana’s crumbling infrastructure.
Pool said the county receives between $800,000 and $900,000 more each year from the tax increase. For every $1 of gas tax funding, Pool said the highway department will use half of it for overhead — health insurance costs, salaries, vehicles and fuel — and the other half for road improvements.
“We’re doing our best to make sure at least a good percentage of their money gets turned into something they personally can use,” Pool said. “They probably would like it to be more, I would like it to be more, but we’re doing the best we can with our own abilities.”
A cog in the maintenance plan is having to find money to build a nearly quarter-mile road to service the county’s proposed 400-bed jail on property along U.S. 40 between North County Roads 400E and 500E.
In order to lower cost of the jail project, which the Hancock County Commissioners have estimated to be about $43 million, the commissioners have asked the highway department to pay for a road on the property using county dollars instead of using money from a proposed income tax increase.
Pool estimates the road, parking lot and drainage system along the road could cost about $800,000. He doesn’t have funding set aside for the proposed road, he said, whether that’s using the county’s motor vehicle fund or local option income tax dollars. He said that’s up to county elected officials to decide.
Keeping maintenance on schedule and on budget means Pool can spend more time applying for grants, he said. He’s already secured $44.7 million in federal grants, distributed through the Indiana Department of Transportation, for projects over the next six years. The county received $14.3 million in federal grants for projects completed between 2015 and 2018, Pool said.
“We’ve been really lucky. We’ve worked hard,” Pool said. “That’s $60 million for the county to build all these projects — bridges and new roads are really expensive.”
The majority of road projects over the next six years will widen and add lanes, trails and roundabouts to Mt. Comfort Road — an area of western Hancock County that’s expected to have immense growth.
In 2021, the county highway plan calls for a $8.15 million project — $6.2 million from federal funds — widening Mt. Comfort Road from County Roads 300N to 400N, from the roundabout near Mt. Comfort Elementary School to just south of Airport Blvd. The next segment of the Mt. Comfort Road project, from 400N to halfway between 500N and 600N, will cost about $21.5 million and is slated for completion in 2022. Three quarters of that multi-million-dollar project — $16.5 million — is from a grant.
The local funding for those projects is slated to come from the Hancock County Redevelopment Commission’s Tax Increment Financing dollars, the county plan document states.
Pool said two other projects slated for Mt. Comfort Road will bring new turn lanes, trails and shoulders on the southern end of the county, near the Broken Arrow subdivision as well a 2-mile stretch between the entrance of New Palestine Junior High School and train tracks near Eland Drive and Country Way. Those projects could cost $3.9 million and $6.6 million, respectively, according to the county plan.
The county has also scheduled improvements to at least 11 bridges; resurfacing County Road 300N from 600W to 500W; extending the Pennsy Trail; and adding guardrails and flashing school lights.
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These are some of the main county roads the highway department plans to fix during 2019:
- 600E between Indiana 234 and U.S. 40
- 400N between 50E and 300E
- 300N between 100W and Indiana 9
- 250N between 600E and 850E
- Meridian Road between 200N and McKenzie
- 700W between 300N and 100N
- 1125E between 650N and 900N
- Stinemyer Road from the county line to 600W
- 500W from 200S to New Palestine city limits
- 100S from Morristown Pike to 400E
A complete map of 2019 maintenance projects is available to view on our website. Look for the online version of this story.
Source: Hancock County Highway Department
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