Local communities are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state to help with road projects. The recipients of the fall round of Community Crossings grants were announced by the Indiana Department of Transportation Tuesday. The program covers 50 or 75 percent of the cost of qualifying road and bridge projects.
LaPorte County got the biggest grant locally, for almost $997,000. Pulaski County was awarded just under $389,000. Knox received more than $302,000, while Culver got over $221,000.
Starke County got almost $34,000. The Starke County Highway Department says it applied for additional funding after the last round of Community Crossings projects came in under budget. The county plans to upgrade County Road 600 East to hot mix asphalt between 700 North and 900 North and replace a culvert on County Road 300 East, just north of 800 North. Highway department crews are expected to do the work in the spring.
A total of almost $102 million was awarded to 241 Indiana cities, towns, and counties, during this round of Community Crossings. That’s more than $30 million more than what was initially announced. INDOT says the funding will come from the money left in the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund at the end of the 2020 fiscal year, as well as money collected so far in the 2021 fiscal year. The fall round was postponed by a few months, after the decrease in travel caused by COVID-19 led to uncertainty with gas tax revenues.
