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By VICKI URBANIK Porter County so far has 61 projects on a statewide “wish list” of roads, bridges and trails that could get underway immediately through the economic stimulus package now in Congress. The list of projects include a $150,000 repaving of Wabash Avenue in Chesterton, a $300,000 repaving of Waverly Road in Porter, nearly $2 million for the Porter Brickyard Trail, $10.3 million for repaving of Central Avenue in Portage, $300,000 for the new downtown park in Valparaiso, and the Ind. 149 extension to U.S. 30. All of those projects and hundreds of others from communities throughout the state are considered “shovel ready,” meaning that they’ve already been engineered, cleared the approval process, and are waiting for funding to be released. The projects made it on the preliminary list after the Indiana Department of Transportation asked communities to submit projects that would be ready to go once federal stimulus funds become available. The list includes five projects in Chesterton totaling $621,600, 11 in Portage totaling $38 million, 26 in Porter totaling $4.7 million, and six in Valpariaso totaling $1 million. The list also includes 13 projects in unincorporated Porter County totaling $13.7 million, though the largest project listed -- the Ind. 149 extension from Ind. 130 to U.S. 30 does not have a dollar amount attached. INDOT Deputy Commissioner of Communications Bruce Childs emphasized that the local projects at this point are only a wish list, and that its not yet known what local projects will get stimulus money. Under the House version of the stimulus package, Indiana expected to get roughly $700 million for road and other projects. But Childs said the state has more than $1 billion worth of requests from communities statewide. Exactly how the money in Indiana will be divvied up -- how much, for example, will go for state roads and how much will be funneled to communities like Chesterton and Porter -- remains to be seen. Childs said the state is committed to put the funds where the most jobs can be created immediately. “We will spread it around the state as best as we can,” he said. Because the local projects on the INDOT list are already approved, they would probably get underway in a year or so through the normal channels, such as gas tax revenues. But Childs said the stimulus money would jump start these projects, in turn freeing up funding for other projects down the line. For Chesterton Street Department Superintendent John Schnadenberg, the possibility that Chesterton might get some stimulus funding is very good news. “It might help us get caught up to where we should be,” he said. Chesterton has just five projects on the INDOT list, but Schandenberg said the town would be lucky to carry out just one of those without the chance of the stimulus money. “Hopefully, we can do two or three of these,” he said. He noted that town has seen cuts in its gas tax revenues and that the annual $200,000 allotment from the town’s County Economic Develop-ment Income Tax for roads and sidewalks has not covered all the road work that’s needed. He said the town has had to delay some sidewalk work in order to do road projects. Schnadenberg noted one project on the list the stretch of C.R. 1050N from 11th Street to 100E that’s buckling up and is in dire need of repaving. He estimated that each road project creates about 30 jobs for those in the road industry. If the town can get funding freed up as a result for sidewalks, more work will be created for the concrete industry, he said. The following are the Porter County projects that are on the INDOT list so far. Other communities, such as Burns Harbor, are expected to submit additional projects. The full list is available online at www.in.gov/indot/div/projects/LPASection/stimulusPackage Chesterton: paving projects on Wabash Avenue from Calumet to Waverly Road, $150,000; Woodlawn from Waverly to Ottawa, $130,000; Porter Avenue from 15th to 23rd street, $112,600; CR 1050N, from 11th to 100E, $166,000; and the Prairie Duneland Trail from Jackson Boulevard to the town of Porter, $63,000. Porter: five undesignated projects at the street department; $1.9 million for the Porter Brickyard Trail; Tremont Road, $20,000; Oak Hill Road, $200,000; Waverly Road, $300,000; Wagner Road, $200,000; Woodlawn Road, $150,000; Wood Street, $60,000; Old Porter Road, $200,000; Beam Street, $100,000; Porter Cove, two projects totaling $170,000; Wagner Hills, $10,000; Hunters Glen, $30,000; Wagner Hills, two projects totaling $80,000; Franklin Street, $150,000; and $78,000 for projects throughout town. Portage: Eleven projects, the largest ones of which are $10.3 million paving of Central Avenue from Willowcreek to County Line Road and $9.1 million paving of Stone Avenue from Willowcreek to County Line Road. Porter County: Thirteen projects for bridges and roads in unincorporated Porter County, including the Ind. 149 extension and $1.5 million for the bridge on CR 500E over the Kankakee River. Valparaiso: Six projects, the largest of which are $695,000 for the Campbell Street Pathway from Harrrison to Jefferson street and $300,000 for the new downtown park.
Posted 2/13/2009 |
