Barton Responds to Holcomb’s INDOT Grants Announcement

City of Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton provided the following statement after the announcement of Crawfordsville being awarded over $190, 000 in matching grant money from the first phase of community crossing grants given by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).

“The Community Crossing Grant program has become a valuable tool in our efforts to continuously improve our streets and aging drainage infrastructure,” said Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton. “We are able to leverage the investment of local tax dollars with this funding from INDOT to make Crawfordsville a safer, more functional place for residents and businesses to grow and thrive.”

Launched in 2016, the Community Crossings Matching Grant Program provides funding to cities, towns, and counties across Indiana to make improvements to local roads and bridges.

Governor Eric J. Holcomb and Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Commissioner Mike Smith today announced from Muncie that 224 Indiana cities, towns, and counties, including Crawfordsville and Montgomery County, received a combined $107.8 million in state matching funds for local road projects through Community Crossings, a component of the Governor’s Next Level Roads program.

“Continuing to modernize and enhance our transportation infrastructure is critical to the economic success in and around our incredible communities and ultimately Hoosiers’ prosperity itself,” Gov. Holcomb said. “Community Crossings makes immediate impacts on improving local roads and bridges across Indiana. Those improvements translate to a safe, reliable, robust transportation infrastructure that benefits residents and business in every corner of our state and every place in between.”

The Community Crossings initiative has provided more than $1 billion in state matching funds for local construction projects since 2016. Communities submitted applications for funding during a highly competitive call for projects in January. Applications were evaluated based on need and current conditions and impacts to safety and economic development. Funding for Community Crossings comes from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund.

“Community Crossings improves safety and reliability of local roads as well as enhances connectivity in all 92 Indiana counties,” INDOT Commissioner Mike Smith said. “INDOT is excited to join with our local partners to deliver on these high-priority projects and I look forward to the transformative effect of this work in our communities in the months ahead.”

To qualify for funding, local governments must provide local matching funds of 50 percent for larger communities or 25 percent for smaller communities and have an asset management plan for maintaining existing roads and bridges. State law requires annually that 50 percent of the available matching funds be awarded to communities within counties with a population of 50,000 or fewer. State lawmakers identified long-term funding for Community Crossings as part of House Enrolled Act 1002, passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Holcomb in April 2017.

The list of all communities receiving matching funds in the 2022 winter/spring call for projects is online at www.in.gov/indot/communitycrossings.

The next call for projects will open in July 2022.

Motorists in West Central Indiana can monitor road closures, road conditions, and traffic alerts any time via:

• Facebook: facebook.com/INDOTWestCentral
• Twitter: @INDOT_WCentral
• TrafficWise: 511in.org
• Mobile App: iTunes App Store and the Google Play store for Android

Over the past 100 years, INDOT has transformed the state of Indiana into the Crossroads of America we know today. With six district offices and 3,500 employees, the agency is responsible for constructing and maintaining more than 29,000 lane miles of highways, more than 5,700 bridges, and supporting 4,500 rail miles and 117 airports across the state. Indiana once again ranked #1 in the U.S. for infrastructure in CNBC’s 2019 “America’s Top States for Business” ranking. Learn more about INDOT at in.gov/indot.

On July 1, 2020, Governor Eric J. Holcomb signed the Indiana Hands-Free Law to reduce distracted driving across the state. Since then, drivers have been prohibited from holding a mobile device while their vehicles are in motion. With help from the Indiana State Police and other law enforcement agencies, over 5,400 citations and more than 10,500 warnings have been issued. For more information on Indiana’s Hands-Free Law, visit www.HandsFreeIndiana.com