Four Johnson County communities received about $3 million total in Community Crossings grants from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Franklin, Greenwood, New Whiteland and Whiteland were among 218 cities and towns across the state to receive funds from a state matching grant program for local road projects. INDOT awarded $100.2 million in grant funds during the first grant award cycle of this year, with more to be announced later in the year, according to an INDOT news release.
Franklin received $1 million, which will go toward repairing roads that are deemed the worst in the city, Mayor Steve Barnett said.
Greenwood’s $938,159 will go toward a variety of road repairs.
Full reconstruction projects are planned on Stokely Boulevard at Polk Street, and Meridian Meadows Road, from State Road 135 to the city limits, said Daniel Johnston, city engineer.
Other work in Greenwood includes: milling and overlay on two sections of Pushville Road; a thin overlay of new pavement on Averitt Road, from Apryl Drive to south of Ashton Parke Drive, and Sheek Road from north of Worthsville Road to south of Main Street; and crack sealing work on Worthsville Road, from County Road 75 East to east of Sheek Road.
Whiteland will use its $734,167 grant to repair five roads in the Springdale subdivision, said Kevin McGinnis, town manager.
The town has been working on streets in the town’s older subdivision for several years. With the grant, each street in the neighborhood will have fresh pavement and new curbs, he said.
New Whiteland received $343,500 to mill and overlay eight road segments in the Raintree and Hilltop Farms subdivisions.
Local governments will chip in local funds to match state dollars. Local matches range between 25% and 50%, depending on a city or town’s population.
Since 2016, the Community Crossings program has awarded $931 million in state matching funds for local road projects by way of funding from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund, INDOT says.
The goal of the program is to allow communities of all sizes to complete large-scale projects they might not be able to do without the extra funds from the state, INDOT Commissioner Joe McGuinness said in a statement.
“The state’s funding partnership allows local partners to tackle larger scale projects more quickly than would otherwise be possible, maximize their resources to complete more projects and achieve the best possible value for Hoosiers,” McGuinness said.
Community Crossings was established in 2017 as a long-term funding source with a vote of support from Rep. John Young (R-Franklin). The law is structured so smaller communities have equal access to funds, as 50% of the annual distribution is set aside for counties with less than 50,000 residents.
“Indiana is in a strong position to continue investing in all our local communities,” Young said in a statement. “When we developed our road funding plan, we took steps to ensure Hoosiers across the state would reap the benefits.”
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Here is a look at how much Johnson County communities got in the latest round of INDOT Community Crossings grants:
Franklin $1 million
Greenwood $983,159
New Whiteland $343,500
Whiteland $734,167
Source: Indiana Department of Transportation
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