Road resurfacing projects moving forward

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Two of the county’s four government entities have completed planned road improvements with the help of state funding, while the other two expect work to be completed this fall.

More than $2.5 million worth of road improvements was awarded to local government bodies through the state’s Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative in the spring.

In March, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that grant awarded $999,999.99 to Seymour, $999,251.35 to Jackson County, $350,124.75 to Brownstown and $156,918.75 to Medora for road and bridge construction.

To qualify for funding, local governments provided local matching funds — 50% for larger communities or 25% for smaller communities — from a funding source approved for road and bridge construction. They also submitted an Indiana Department of Transportation-approved asset management plan for maintaining existing roads and bridges. 

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State law requires 50% of the available matching funds be awarded to communities within counties with a population of 50,000 or fewer and municipalities greater than 10,000 in population pay 50% for the grant.

The Community Crossings Initiative was created by the Indiana General Assembly in 2016 and is funded by the state.

Some projects are in the middle of work, while others have reached completion.

Seymour making progress

Seymour is seeing improvements on 3.15 miles of road across 23 different streets throughout the city this summer.

Improvements are moving right along as planned, city engineer Bernie Hauersperger of FPBH Inc. said.

In May, city officials accepted a bid of $2,327,828.61 from Dave O’Mara Contractor Inc. of North Vernon. Nearly half of the cost, $1 million, is paid through Community Crossings.

The longest stretch of work is 2,250 feet on Park Street from Garden Avenue to O’Brien Street.

Other streets included in the project are Circle Street; 16th Street; East Eighth Street; Redwood Drive; Redwood Court; Reliance Avenue; Camelot Drive; Frontage Road; South Park Street; Hawthorne Court; Snyder Avenue; Seventh Street; Blish Street; Hustedt Street; Pine Street; Fifth Avenue; Killion Avenue; Fourth Avenue; Evergreen Drive; Garden Avenue; South Jackson Park Drive; Marley Lane; and B Avenue.

Hauersperger said a lot of the paving is done, and resurfacing is around 80% completed. The larger roads, such as Killion Avenue and South Jackson Park Drive, are near 50% done.

Seymour’s project should be done by Nov. 1 as long as the weather allows it, Hauersperger said. 

County finishes ahead of schedule

Jackson County’s 17.1 miles of road resurfacing reached completion in the middle of August, county highway Superintendent Jerry Ault said.

With the 25 percent match, the county spent $1,332,336.56 in Brownstown, Carr, Grassy Fork, Owen and Redding townships.

Roads affected included County Road 400S from State Road 39 to 600E; 600E from 400S to 500S; 500S from 625E, back to 500E; 1020W and 1000W; 1300E from 900N to 1000N; 200N from 975W to 1100W; 740W from 275S to the Brownstown town limits.

Also, Mutton Creek in Redding Township, Base Road from Brownstown town limits to 175E, 1150W from 100N up to 1100W, and 225S from 940W were improved, Ault said.

The county project, which was contracted by Milestone Contractors of Columbus, O’Mara’s, and All-Star Paving of Seymour, had a deadline of Aug. 31.

Ault said the project reached completion faster than expected, starting in June and ending about two weeks before the deadline.

The improvements brought the county’s highway budget to nearly $3 million for 2019.

Brownstown staying on pace

While Brownstown’s roads are in the early stages of improvements, town Councilman Gregory Goshorn said the project is still on track to finish Nov. 1.

The largest project is Ashland Street — a $228,111.33 improvement — which includes replacing curbs and gutters and removing aging cracks and patches.

The street has been milled and gravel has put down for residents, and All Star Paving will be coming back in soon to take up part of the street and put in drains, Goshorn said. 

He said the drains and the concrete basins that go with them are on Ashland Street. Once the drains are put in and piping is done, it will be another two weeks before paving reaches completion.

Once Ashland has reached finality, work on East Bridge Street, which will extend to the town’s limits, and Ewing Street will take priority.

"As of right now, they are still on schedule," Goshorn said. "I know that they are working on other projects right now. It’s one of those where we have a small project, so we expected it to be pushed back a little bit."

The town’s match was $110,974.05.

Medora project reaches completion

Medora Town Council President Bob Thompson said it took All Star Paving two weeks to get the project in Medora done, which concluded at the end of August.

The grant helped mill and pave portions of Main and George streets and finish out a sidewalk near the senior citizens center.

The project also included milling and overlaying Main Street from its eastern boundary at David Street to George Street. State Road 235 (Perry Street) wasn’t altered since the state is responsible for that work, but construction continued south on George Street one block to Riley Street.

Medora’s match was $40,093.75. Thompson said the town plans on applying for the grant again in the future.

"We can’t do it with our budget. The budget just isn’t there," he said. "With the INDOT grant, we’re going to try to pursue again to fix some more streets that are in dire need." 

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