County, Shirley win grants for bridge, street work

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The bridge over Sugar Creek in the 2500 block of West County Road 100N will be replaced, thanks to funds the county will receive through the Community Crossings program. The town of Shirley also received a grant to repave part of South Street.

GREENFIELD — Hancock County’s infrastructure is set to benefit from another round of state Community Crossings grants, with both the county government and the town of Shirley receiving funding.

Hancock County will receive $408,218.55 from the program, while Shirley will receive $71,797.50.

County engineer Gary Pool said the county will use its funds to replace a bridge over Sugar Crook on County Road 200N, across from the S&H Campground. Pool said the age of the bridge makes it a good candidate for replacement; it will also be widened.

“That money will offset costs so we can do some other bridge projects,” Pool said.

With the addition of the second-round grant, the Hancock County government has received the maximum amount of $1 million it can be awarded each year through Community Crossings. Pool said he is grateful for the program, which has been a good partner for the county since its inception.

The town of Shirley received its grant money to repave two sections of South Street, from Main Street to 2nd Street and from Main Street to Meridian Street.

Pool said the highway department is hard at work on other infrastructure projects, including ongoing work on County Road 600W in the McCordsville area. He said some of that work has been difficult because of ongoing problems finding labor and acquiring materials. Buying steel and hiring concrete workers have been particularly tough for the county.

“We’ve had hard times before,” Pool said. “We’ll get through it.”

Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, praised the Community Crossings program for the continued benefits it has delivered in his district.

“The Community Crossing Matching Grant Program is a great financial resource, and I commend local leaders for their efforts to secure this funding,” Crider said. “As chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Transportation, I had the opportunity to hear a presentation over the benefits of this program. I am happy to know our community is utilizing this resource, and I look forward to the positive impact this funding will have on our infrastructure.”

The Indiana Department of Transportation grants matching funds through the program in two rounds each year. In this round, 218 local government units will receive a total of over $101 million.

Counties with populations fewer than 50,000 and cities and towns with populations fewer than 10,000 receive a 75-25 match, while counties with populations of greater than 50,000 and cities and towns with populations of greater than 10,000 receive a 50-50 match.