The steel bridge that takes CR 675E over Sugar Creek in northeastern Hancock County will be rehabilitated and repainted thanks to a state program.
Mitchell Kirk | Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY — The county and two of its towns are getting nearly $1.3 million from the state for repairs to roads and a historical bridge.
Indiana’s Community Crossings program is providing the funds. Fortville is getting nearly $1 million, Hancock County is getting over $200,000 and almost $100,000 is heading to New Palestine. Per program rules based on population sizes, the county is providing a 50% match on top of its award while the towns are contributing 25% matches.
Joe Renner, Fortville town manager, said the town’s Community Crossings dollars will fund spot repairs along with milling and repaving on several streets. Exactly which streets will be determined after bids come in and needs are prioritized, he continued, adding he hopes for work to start this fall or next spring.
Renner said he was grateful to learn the town would be getting almost the $1 million maximum from the program.
“I think they’ve been pretty good to us each time we submitted,” he said.
Community Crossings has two rounds a year, and Fortville hasn’t submitted for a few of the recent ones. Renner thinks that lull may have had something to do with the latest award.
“We can’t apply for a grant unless we have our percentage to match, so we wait for that to be built up a little bit, then we submit,” he said.
Renner said the program has been a big help in the past by allowing for road repairs that wouldn’t have been possible within the town’s budget.
Gary Pool, Hancock County engineer, said the county’s funds will be used to rehabilitate and repaint a white steel bridge built in the early 1900s on CR 675E over Sugar Creek just north of CR 950N. The bridge will get a coating to help prevent graffiti as well.
Pool sought funding for other projects through Community Crossings, but they were not awarded.
“I’m always trying to get more,” he said. “We’ve received a lot of grants over the last 10 years, and you just can’t win everything every time.”
He added he’s thankful for the Indiana Department of Transportation administering the program and the Hancock County Board of Commissioners and Council for supporting his attempts to get funding.
Pool said while he finds some historical items to be frivolous, the county’s old bridges attract positive attention and that it’s not uncommon for people to take photos of and with them.
“I believe they do bring some joy to our county,” he said. “I’d like to try to protect them.”
Steve Pool, New Palestine street commissioner, said the town’s Community Crossings funds will be used to mill and repave sections of CR 300S between CR 500W and CR 450W, along with sections of CR 450W as well.
“They’ve just had a lot of construction traffic lately,” he said, recalling the nearby traffic circle that was recently completed at CR 300S and CR 500W. “Roads took a beating this winter.”
He anticipates work starting sometime this summer.
“It benefits everybody in the town — this Community Crossings program,” he said.
More than 220 cities, towns and counties received a combined $107.8 million in state matching funds for local road projects through Community Crossings, a component of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Next Level Roads program.
The initiative has provided more than $1 billion in state matching funds for local construction projects since 2016. Communities submitted applications for the latest round in January. Applications were evaluated based on need, current conditions and impacts to safety and economic development. Funding for Community Crossings comes from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund.
Community Crossings awards by the numbers
Fortville: $999,667
Hancock County: $201,500
New Palestine: $92,397
