HANCOCK COUNTY — Nearly $4 million in state funding will be spent to fix crumbling roads and bridges throughout Hancock County, the Indiana Department of Transportation recently announced.
The Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative awarded 189 Indiana cities, towns and counties a combined $115 million in state-matching funds for local street and road projects. That includes $1 million for Greenfield; $967,592 for Hancock County; $1 million for Fortville; $790,725 for Cumberland; and $111,262 for Shirley.
The funding comes from fees placed on heavy-duty commercial vehicles that use the Indiana Toll Road in northern Indiana.
Larger communities have to match 50 percent of the grant, while smaller communities match 25 percent. The state caps the grant at $1 million annually per community. INDOT accepts applications twice a year. Since 2017, the state has awarded more than $500 million in grants, according to a press release.
Greenfield’s $1 million from the state and $1 million in local funds will be spend to resurface 20 streets during the 2019 paving season, from July 1 to Oct. 31, said street commissioner Tyler Rankins. The city’s top priority is to resurface West New Road from State Road 9 to North Franklin Street, Rankins said. The street has deteriorated over the years from truck traffic from manufacturing businesses along the road.
Most of the projects funded through the grant will pay to resurface concrete roads in subdivisions, which include Indigo Springs and Fieldstone on the city’s east side, Rankins said.
“Concrete is expensive,” he said. “Without the grant, I don’t know how we could afford it.”
Greenfield received a combined $1.3 million during the 2017 and 2018 grant cycles for Community Crossings, Rankins said, adding the program has allowed the city to repave more streets than in the past.
Hancock County’s $967,592 grant, which doubles to $1.9 million with the local 50 percent match, will be spent on paving eight miles of county roads and two small bridges, said county engineer Gary Pool.
Joe Renner, town manager for Fortville, said the town will need to match $333,000 to the $1 million grant. Fortville officials plan to resurface the town’s main arterial roads, Fortville Pike and Garden Street, and pave other town streets that are “crumbling and falling apart.”
“We’re extremely grateful for this program,” Renner said, “and what it’s able to do for the town.”
The town of Shirley received $111,262 for a total project cost of $150,000 for 2019. Teresa Hester, clerk-treasurer, said the town plans to repave Half Street, First Street, a section of Illinois Street as well as a section of South Railroad Street. Last year, the town received a Community Crossings grant to redo Main Street downtown.
“75-25 is huge,” Hester said about the matching grant.
In Cumberland, the town will use its $790,725 state grant to pave asphalt and concrete streets as well as a total reconstruction project for several streets in the Cumberland Heights neighborhood, said Ben Lipps, director of public works. The neighborhood’s streets have significant drainage issues, Lipps added. The town will also repave Buck Creek Road, a major collector for Cumberland’s subdivisions, he said.
Lipps said the grant is a “significant blessing to the town” and allows them to complete more road work in one year than they could solely with local funding.
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Local municipalities that received a community crossings grant for 2019:
Hancock County: $967,592
Greenfield: $1 million
Fortville: $1 million
Cumberland: $790,725
Shirley: $111,262
Source: Indiana Department of Transportation
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The Greenfield Street Department, using a state road grant, plans to resurface the following city streets between July 1 and Oct. 31:
West New Road, North Franklin Street to State Road 9
West Muskegon Drive, North Broadway Street to Fields Boulevard
Winfield Park Drive, North Meridian Road to VanBuren Street
VanBuren Street, West Main Street to Winfield Park Drive
Fields Boulevard, West Muskegon Drive to West New Road
Winfield Park Court, Winfield Park Drive to cul-de-sac
Winfield Park Circle, Winfield Park Drive to cul-de-sac
Presidential Court, Winfield Park Drive to cul-de-sac
Indigo Drive, Runnymede Drive to East McKenzie Road
Indigo Court, cul-de-sac to Runnymede Drive
Runnymede Drive, Indigo Drive to Breakwater Drive
Grindstone Way/Court, Fairfield Drive/Circle to cul-de-sac
Marble Lane, Stonewall Drive to Grindstone Way/Court
Fairfield Drive, Stonewall Drive to Grindstone Way
Fairfield Circle, Grindstone Way to cul-de-sac
Stonewall Drive, North Blue Road to Marble Lane
Stonewall Circle, Marble Lane to cul-de-sac
West North Street, North Broadway Street to School Street
West Boyd Avenue, North Broadway Street to Oak Boulevard
School Street, West Boyd Avenue to West McKenzie Road
Source: Greenfield Street Department
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