Medora awarded road funding

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More Medora streets will receive much-needed attention in 2021.

On Tuesday, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe McGuinness announced 241 Indiana cities, towns and counties will receive a combined $101 million in state matching funds for local road projects through Community Crossings, a component of the governor’s Next Level Roads program.

That includes $179,316.73 for Medora. The town will have to provide a 25% match.

Jon Craig, business development manager for Midwestern Engineers Inc. of Loogootee, helped the town apply for the grant. He said Medora was awarded the full amount for which it applied, and he will check with INDOT to ensure the road projects all line up.

The projects include:

West Riley Street from North George Street to North Jackson Street

West Riley Street from South Jackson Street to South Elm Street

South Elm Street from West Main Street to West Riley Street

South Elm Street from West Riley Street to West Scott Street

West Scott Street from South Elm Street to North Jackson Street

North George Street from West Main Street to West Adam Street

North George Street from West Adam Street to West First Street

South David Street from East Riley Street (railroad) to East Washington Street

West First Street from North Perry Street to North George Street

West First Street from North George Street to North Jackson Street

South Perry Street from Washington Street to dead end

West Adam Street from North Perry Street to North George Street

East Adam Street from North Perry Street to North David Street

East Scott Street from South Perry Street to South David Street

East Scott Street from South David Street to South Mill Street

North Elm Street from West Central Street to North Jackson Street

Some of the streets will get repaved, while others will have the sidewalk milled and slip plates installed to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Medora Town Council President Jerry Ault said.

Not having to mill the old pavement and then overlay allows the grant dollars to go farther, Craig said.

“Sometimes, we do a project where we mill the street and then do an overlay on top of it,” Craig said. “Most of these streets are overlay only, so there will be some sidewalk ramps to make the sidewalks ADA compliant.”

This was Medora’s second time applying for and receiving Community Crossings Matching Grant funding.

In 2019, the town received $156,918.75, which allowed for milling and paving of portions of Main and George streets and finishing out a sidewalk near the senior citizens center.

The project included milling and overlaying Main Street from its eastern boundary at David Street to George Street. That skipped over State Road 235 (Perry Street) because the state is responsible for that work and then headed south on George Street one block to Riley Street. The project improved drainage, too.

Ault said it was “a no-brainer” for the town to apply again this year.

“If you can get a certain percentage of money by matching it, then hey, why not? That’s free money. Take advantage of it while you’ve got it,” he said. “It will definitely make an impact because the town of Medora doesn’t have very many businesses, so we don’t have that much revenue, and this Community Crossings is really, really helpful.”

The town council’s next step is to put the project out for bid so work can be done next spring or summer.

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

To qualify for funding, local governments must provide local matching funds — 50% for larger communities or 25% for smaller communities — from a funding source approved for road and bridge construction. They also must submit an INDOT-approved asset management plan for maintaining existing roads and bridges.

State law requires 50% of the available matching funds be awarded to communities within counties with a population of 50,000 or fewer.

“As we navigate through the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re as committed as ever to improving and building our state’s infrastructure,” Holcomb said in a news release.

“I’m incredibly pleased that we’re able to fund all of the high-priority local road projects submitted in this round,” he said. “Taking care of our local roads is key to making sure our communities remain attractive places to grow businesses and create careers.”

Since its inception, the initiative has provided more than $830 million in state matching funds for construction projects.

Typically, there are two calls for projects each year — one in January and one in July.

In response to revenue uncertainty caused by the pandemic, however, INDOT moved this year’s second call to September.

The $101 million award is funded by the balance available in the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund at the end of the 2020 fiscal year and revenue collected so far in the 2021 fiscal year.

“This is a tremendous win for our local partners,” McGuinness said in the news release. “Our continued partnership with Hoosier communities will deliver more high-priority local road projects in the coming year, many of which have been in planning for months or even years and wouldn’t be able to move forward now without the state’s funding commitment.”

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The list of all communities receiving matching funds in the 2020 summer/fall call for projects is online at in.gov/indot/communitycrossings.

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