With working progressing on its summer road remediation plan, the Cass County Highway Department received another boost this week with the news that three road resurfacing projects will receive federal economic stimulus funds.
Bids are open to contractors for resurfacing on a 5-1/2-mile stretch of 700E. from U.S. 35 to Ind. 18, 7-1/2 miles on Logansport Road from Longtree Road to 1100E., and 1/2 mile on 400S. from 150E. and 200E.
Engineering assessments of the projects estimate their combined cost at $2.1 million. Bidding letting by INDOT is scheduled for July 29, with a deadline of Oct. 12 for work to be complete.
Jeff Smith, project coordinator for CCHD, expects to see construction sometime in August, and given the size of the projects he anticipates that contractors will take around 30 days to complete the work.
Smith said he is surprised at the amount of time it has taken for the stimulus projects to be given the green light, but thinks that once it is completed, each project will be a benefit to anyone who travels in those areas.
“The projects also include new street lines, shoulder work and signs,” Smith said. “It will be a good road once it is finished.”
Four projects in Carroll County will also receive funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Bids are open for work on 75W from Camden’s town limits to 650N, 300W from Lockport Bridge to 1100N, Bicycle Bridge Road from 1200W to U.S. 421 and 1200W from county line to Bicycle Bridge Road. A deadline of Oct. 15 is set for work on these projects.
Rep. Rich McClain, R-Logansport, welcomed the news the counties will benefit from the stimulus funds.
“Giving Cass and Carroll counties to improve their roads, in my opinion, is a great use of federal stimulus money,” McClain said in a news release. “Not only is it going to benefit the local communities, it will also benefit local contractors looking for available construction projects in order to keep work coming in and avoid idle production.”
Smith said to receive funding for each of the projects from a source outside of county funds is a major boost for the county.
He said that while work on 700E was definitely a priority for the county, work on Logansport Road is less urgent but would be a large expense for the county when the work is required in the next few years.
“The stimulus fund is a preferred way of getting of funding instead of using county money.” Smith said. “We also hope by resurfacing Logansport Road, it will solve some of the water problems we have in wet weather.”
Smith said the relatively small project on 400S is in fact part of a larger project submitted to INDOT by the county and he is hopeful additional funds for more resurfacing work will be released in the November letting
“Three million dollars is the maximum that the county can get, and we hope that we can get the other part of the project approved so the rest of 400E will get funded,” Smith said. “If we hit that $2.1 million estimate when the bids come in, we might be able to get it.”
Details of 51 projects that the county is working on this summer were released earlier this week, and Smith said the work is progressing well.
“The plan is for all of those to be done by the end of the summer,” Smith said. “And outside of any fundamental disaster, we should be fine.”
• Kevin Smith is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5148 or kevin.smith@pharostribune.com
Local News
Related Photos
-
FRESH SURFACE: Cass County Highway Department and Central Paving crews are busy working on a resurfacing project on 800S, west of 200E. It is one of 51 projects included in the county’s summer road projects. Additional work will begin soon on three projects funded by the federal economic stimulus package.
Discussion
Stimulus boost
INDOT approves road resurfacing in Cass and Carroll counties
- Local News
-
-
County ambulance talks continue
Cass County officials met with another private firm last week as they explore which way to go with the county’s obligation to provide ambulance service.
-
City to consider reducing tipping fee
Logansport City Council members plans to discuss decreasing the amount the city receives in tipping fees from Oak Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility at a special meeting tonight.
-
Caston officials discussing $2 million in capital projects
Caston School Corp. officials are eyeing a new bus barn and parking lots as they consider spending about $2 million on capital projects.
-
The state option: Local educators unsure of impacts of ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana last week received a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind act, but local superintendents say the move may just swap one rigid set of guidelines for another without addressing educators’ frustrations.
-
Filings in: Three Republican primaries
Cass County Republicans will cast ballots in three races in the May 8 primary, while Democrats will vote on who to send to the state convention.
-
Logansport officials: Wireless plan not dead
Logansport City Council members last week nixed funding of a $850,000 wireless project approved late last year, but officials say the project is not completely off the radar.
-
Miami County officials say they knew of company’s past issues
Reports that a Texas-based company owed more than $500,000 in back taxes, was behind on its rent and had an executive indicted surfaced about a year before corporate leaders began discussing an expansion to Miami County.
-
Dean Baldwin’s past includes tax payment problems, indictment of executive
An aircraft service provider expanding to Miami County had a blur of bad publicity a few years before announcing its plans to come to the area.
-
Principal: Lewis Cass student attacked with piece of wood
A Lewis Cass Junior-Senior High School freshman remained hospitalized Friday after being attacked by a classmate with a piece of wood, the school’s principal said.
-
Dancing with dad: 185 fathers and daughters take to dance floor
Robert Kesling remembers eight years ago when he swooped his daughter Anna off her feet and swayed on the dance floor with the young lady that makes his heart melt.
- More Local News Headlines
-
County ambulance talks continue
Nordic Festival Puts North Korea in Spotlight
'Rumor Has It' Adele's Rolling in the Grammys
Grohl, Grammy Nominees Cut Up on the Red Carpet
Greece Passes New Austerity Deal Amid Rioting
Coroner: Houston Autopsy Results Weeks Away
Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote
Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Whitney Houston's Church Mourns Her Passing
Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party
79 Turtles Seized at Shanghai Airport
Severe Cold Wreaks Havoc in China
Fuel Removal Under Way on Capsized Italian Ship
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
