The exterior of Bartholomew County Courthouse in Columbus, Ind., pictured, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Mike Wolanin | The Republic
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Inflation and labor shortages will continue to reduce the miles of rural roads receiving new blacktop in Bartholomew County.
After providing a list of 16 projects to the Bartholomew County Commissioners for this year’s annual overlay project, county highway engineer Danny Hollander said the $2 million available through the Community Crossings program and the 50-50 matching local funds will put a new layer of asphalt on about 16.5 miles of rural roads.
That’s less than Hollander was expecting a month ago when he estimated that 20 to 25 miles of rural roads might get a new blacktop in 2023.
“We’re looking at spending $110,000 a mile,” Hollander said. “We were at $50,000 a mile about six years go.”
By far, this year’s largest project involves repaving two miles of East 25th St., from the Columbus city limits to the junction of State Road 9. Since this section of county road had once been part of a state highway, East 25th Street is substantially wider and more costly to pave than a conventional county road, local officials said.
When Bartholomew County commissioner Larry Kleinhenz received the list Monday, he remarked that none of the projects he was anticipating were on the overlay list. Hollander responded that the projects had to be submitted to the Indiana Department of Transportation early this year, so no recent changes or additions have been made.
”We can add roads, but the cost would be 100% from our budget,” Hollander said.
For the complete story, see Friday’s Republic.
