INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A recently announced five-year highway construction plan for Indiana will provide more than $4.7 billion to repair or replace highways and bridges in the state.

 

Under the Next Level Roads plan – unveiled by Gov. Eric Holcomb on July 13 – about 10,000 lane miles will be added or resurfaced from 2018-22. Nearly 1,300 bridges will be rehabilitated or replaced. Multiple projects are planned in each of the state’s 92 counties.

Construction will include bridge deck widening, bridge substructure repair and rehabilitation, repair or replacement of bridge joints, corrections of road curves and traffic signal modernization.

The Next Level Roads initiative also includes an additional $342 million annually to cities, towns and counties for local road projects by 2024, the Governor’s Office said. Funding for the program was included in House Bill 1002, signed by Holcomb April 27. The bill included a dime per-gallon increase in the state gasoline tax.

The five-year plan is part of a longer, 20-year project to improve the state’s roads and bridges. With H.B. 1002, Indiana has “a fully-funded plan to operate, maintain and improve every state road and bridge,” according to Holcomb’s office.

 

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will work with communities to create similar plans for local roads and bridges.

“Our transportation network of roads and bridges plays a major part in Indiana’s success story both now and in the future,” Holcomb noted. “With a fully-funded plan in place for the next 20 years, Hoosiers can rest assured that Indiana will remain the Crossroads of America for generations to come.

“I commend INDOT for working hard to identify key projects so that we could be ready to roll with this five-year plan so quickly.”

Funding for local road and bridge projects will be through the Community Crossings Matching Grant Program, which provides money to local communities for road and bridge improvements.

The program calls for a 75 percent state match for cities under 10,000 residents and counties smaller than 50,000, and a 50 percent match for larger cities and counties.

Eligible projects include local road and bridge preservation, road reconstruction, guardrail replacement and intersection improvements.

Farmers count on local roads and bridges to allow them to get their commodities safely to the elevator, market or wherever they need to go, said Justin Schneider, director of state government relations for the Indiana Farm Bureau.

“As the guy who lives in town but goes home to drive equipment, there are sections of roads and bridges (where) you don’t want to meet anybody when there’s nowhere to move or get off the road,” he explained. “There’s a fear of driving over a bridge and it collapsing.

“That is real and it weighs on the minds of a lot of people. Being able to haul grain and commodities year-round when you need to and not have to go around – it’s important to have the most direct path. Every time you go around is a cost to you in time and money.”

There are significant needs across the state for investment in maintenance and upgrades in rural roads and bridges, Schneider said.

 

“It’s not every bridge. It could be a bridge isn’t wide enough or it could be a weight limit issue. It could be the superstructure under the bridge is in really bad shape. Maybe a road is too narrow or its base isn’t in good shape,” he explained.

A study released in December 2016 by the Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) found 11 percent of county roads in the state were considered in good condition, while 49 percent were rated fair and 40 percent, poor. Ofthe state’s 13,166 local agency bridges, 9.5 percent were found structurally deficient, 14 percent functionally obsolete and 24 percent were listed as both.

Bridges considered structurally deficient are those with components in need of repair to remove the deficiency, said Bob McCullouch, LTAP program manager.

An example would be a problem with a foundation that requires some attention. A functionally obsolete bridge isn’t capable of supporting its designated load or is undersized.

The previous LTAP study was in 2009, he said. “Last time, only 15 percent of Indiana’s roads were studied and this time, about 60 percent were evaluated,” McCullouch explained. “That makes the report more credible and more accurate than it was in the past.”

LTAP officials will compare the state’s roads with those in neighboring states at the request of the Indiana legislature, he said.

Cities and counties will have to come up with money to match state funding from Community Crossings, Schneider said. Options could include a wheel tax.

“Counties will assess their situations and start spending money on their priorities,” Schneider said. “Indiana Farm Bureau will then try to get a sense from our members whether things are adequate.

“We’ve told our members we tried to  get the bill through but now that it is, it’s not the end yet. They should contacttheir county highway superintendent or county commissioners with concerns.”

For more information and to see the construction plans for every county, visit www.in.gov/indot/div/nextlevel