By Heather Collins
Carmel was awarded matching funds through INDOT’s Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative to help cover the cost of a new roundabout at 3rd Avenue and City Center Drive.
“We also funded this project in the 2017 bonds, but we were unaware of the outcome of the Community Crossings Grant at that time,” City Engineer Jeremy Kashman said.
The city submitted a total project cost of $2.1 million, hoping to receive the maximum grant of $1 million. It received $670,000 through the initiative.
Kashman said as part of the grant, the project will need to be under contract by mid-April 2018.
The Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative awarded more than 396 cities, towns and counties with a combined total of $150 million in state-matching funds this year. More than 467 communities applied for the funds.
The initiative assists community in funding local road projects. Communities that are awarded the grant must match the awarded funds by 50 percent from a source approved for road and bridge construction.
The Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative was launched last year by Gov. Eric Holcomb to help elevate Indiana’s economic competitiveness and improve the quality of life for Hoosiers through investments in transportation infrastructure. The initiative has dedicated more than $30 billion for the next 20 years to help improve conditions of roads and bridges throughout the state.
“Superior local roads are a key factor in maintaining Indiana’s reputation as the Crossroads of America,” Holcomb stated in a press release. “I am encouraged that a record number of communities applied for and received funds this year, and I am grateful to lawmakers for increasing the funding to sustain the community crossings initiative.”
