Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield
Provided photo
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) recently announced that communities throughout the state have received funds from the Community Crossings Matching Grant program (CCMG) — part of Holcomb’s Next Level Roads Program — and Hancock County was one of the 188 communities to receive funding.
Hancock County received $544,305 from CCMG. The county will match that amount, resulting in a total of $1,088,610 toward the improvement of roads.
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 greater than 50,000 and cities and towns with populations greater than 10,000 receive a 50%/50% match.
Gary Pool, Hancock County engineer, said that the money will go toward micro-surfacing roads throughout the county. According to the submitted application for CCMG, the funds will go toward the micro-surfacing of a requested 23 locations throughout the county. Of those 23 locations, the ones at the top of the priority list include parts of Nashville Road, CR 600E, CR 225W, CR 100E and South Ridgeview Drive.
Some of the roads on the list have already been micro-surfaced, like CR 600E that was completed over the summer. For CR 600W, Pool said that microsurfacing for the area was about three quarters of an inch of an asphalt overlay.
Pool also explained that with micro-surfacing, it is not as smooth as Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) but is much better than chip seal. While micro-surfacing does cost double what chip seal does, it is a quarter of what HMA would cost the county.
The press release said that applications for CCMG were submitted during a highly competitive call for projects in July and that the funding for Community Crossings comes from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund.
“It’s encouraging to see continued dedication and commitment to transportation infrastructure at the local level,” INDOT Commissioner Mike Smith said in a press release. “Seeing the completed projects from this program is a reward in itself and a win for the state.”
Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, is the chair of the Interim Study Committee on Roads and Transportation.
“The Community Crossings Matching Grant Program is a great way for Indiana communities to access the funding needed to maintain our high-ranking infrastructure,” said Crider in a press release. “As chair of the Interim Study Committee on Roads and Transportation, we have looked into different infrastructure issues affecting Hoosiers, and it is encouraging to see local communities taking the initiative to improve our roads and bridges.”
Community Crossing was identified by state legislators as a part of House Enrolled Act 1002, which was later passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Holcomb in April 2017.
“Community Crossings continues to provide opportunities for Indiana local communities, large and small, to make connectivity and safety road improvements for Hoosier families and our visitors,” Gov. Holcomb said. “The importance of this matching grant program is immediately obvious as we take our award-winning statewide infrastructure network to the next level.”
Two rounds of applications are offered twice a year, with the next opportunity for submitting an application coming in January 2024.
