Wayne, Fayette, Henry and Randolph counties and some of their communities were among the winners of Indiana’s Community Crossings matching funds for roads and bridges.
Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana Department of Transportation announced the 252 recipients of the shared $207 million on April 10.
Wayne County received $186,520.26, which is half of the materials cost. Wayne County Highway Supervisor Mike Sharp said county employees will do all its road improvement projects this summer.
Paving in the Fair Acres subdivision on Richmond’s northeastern edge will include Maze Avenue, Rolling Drive, Ridge Dale Drive, Fair Acres Road, West View Road, South View Drive, Crescent Drive and Glen Dale Road.
Single chip and seal work will take place on nine roads. They are: Gaar Jackson Road (county’s portion); W.E. Oler Road (west of Indiana 1); all of Turnpike, Five Point, Jennings and Morrow roads; Union Pike Road (north of Tingler); Abington Township Line Road (south of Pottershop Road); and Whitewater Road (east of Arba Pike).
Richmond received $320,196.98. Greg Stiens, director of public works and engineering, said the 12 roads will be milled 1 1/2 inches and re-paved with new asphalt. Some full-depth patching might need to be done in some areas. Work is planned sometime in June or July of this year.
The Richmond projects are:
- North Round Barn Road from Gaar Jackson to Crowe roads
- South A from South 11th to 18th
- South 17th from East Main to South A
- South B from Garwood Road to the dead end
- South C from Garwood Road to dead end
- South 46th from South B to C
- Hughes Lane from Garwood Road to cul-de-sac
- Geraldine Lane from South 37th to Dorothy Lane
- Woodside Drive from East U.S. 40 to Hayes Arboretum Road
- Backmeyer Road from South 37th to Garwood Road
- South 18th from East Main to South A
- Polver Way from Hughes Lane to cul-de-sac
Nearby counties
- Fayette County successfully applied for $1,424,662.49. Connersville received $374,680.01.
- Henry County received $1.5 million, and some towns received funding as well.
- Randolph County received $1,068,949.98, and Winchester received $1,044,593.80.
- Union County received $1,283,246.09.
Funding for Community Crossings comes from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund.
Communities submitted applications in January, and state officials called the process highly competitive. A second opportunity for funds will be available later this year.
Counties with a population of greater than 50,000 — and cities and towns with more than 10,000 — will receive 50% of the project’s cost. Smaller counties and communities will receive 75%.
“Year after year Indiana’s local Community Crossings program enables hundreds of critically important infrastructure improvements to happen,” Holcomb said in a news release. “I cannot overstate the transformative significance of this program and the positive impacts it has throughout our cities, towns and counties across the Hoosier State known as the Crossroads of America.”
A version of this article appeared in the April 17 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.