Reps. Bartels, Lindauer: State funding hits the road for local infrastructure improvements

State Reps. Stephen Bartels (R-Eckerty) and Shane Lindauer (R-Jasper) said local communities will soon be on the move with more road and bridge projects with the help of recently released state funding.

Funding is available through Indiana's Community Crossings Matching Grant Program, which can be used for road reconstruction, bridge preservation, intersection improvements and other projects. A total of 223 communities across the state will receive more than $139 million in state matching grants.

"The Community Crossings program is critical for our local communities to improve their roadways," Bartels said. "These grants help cities, towns and counties pay for essential infrastructure upgrades."

Area grant recipients include:

• Dubois County, $511,743;
• Ferdinand, $776,949;
• Huntingburg, $871,668; and
• Jasper, $1.1 million.

"Citizens and local businesses rely on our roadways every day," Lindauer said. "It's encouraging to see our towns and county taking advantage of these funds."

To qualify for the competitive grant, smaller municipalities provide a 25 percent match in local funds, while larger communities provide a 50 percent match. State law requires 50 percent of the available matching funds be awarded annually to communities within counties with a population of 50,000 or fewer. Since 2016, Community Crossings has awarded more than $1.8 billion to improve local roads and bridges.

Visit in.gov/indot/communitycrossings and click on "Community Crossings Matching Grant" to learn more about the program.