Indy Standard

Allen County legislators have announced that local communities will soon benefit from increased road and bridge projects due to newly released state funding. The funding is provided through Indiana's Community Crossings Matching Grant Program, which supports road reconstruction, bridge preservation, intersection improvements, and other infrastructure projects. In total, 223 communities across the state will receive over $139 million in state matching grants.

"For years, the Community Crossings program has provided communities of all sizes additional funding to complete critical road and bridge projects," stated State Representative Martin Carbaugh (R-Fort Wayne). "Hoosiers depend on having well-maintained functional roadways, and that's why this matching grant is critical for locals to be able to keep up their infrastructure needs."

State Representative Chris Judy (R-Fort Wayne) commented on the program's impact: "This program helps smaller cities and towns stretch their budgets to make much-needed improvements to roads and other vital infrastructure. It's great to see local communities among the grant recipients."

Several area communities are set to receive significant funds: Grabill will get $747,000; Huntertown $1.4 million; Leo-Cedarville $345,531; Monroeville $181,520; and New Haven $371,750.

"Our rural communities have limited resources and rely on these state matching funds to move forward with essential projects," said State Representative Dave Heine (R-Fort Wayne). "It's encouraging to know that more improvements are on the way for our area."

To qualify for these competitive grants, smaller municipalities must provide a 25 percent match in local funds while larger ones provide a 50 percent match. By law, half of the available matching funds must be awarded annually to communities within counties with populations of 50,000 or fewer. Since its inception in 2016, Community Crossings has awarded more than $1.8 billion for local road and bridge improvements.

"The Community Crossings Matching Grant Program is a vital resource for counties, cities and towns because they can move ahead on important road and bridge projects which support our local residents and businesses alike," said State Representative Bob Morris (R-Fort Wayne). "Moving forward, I hope more communities take advantage of this state grant."

For further information about the program, visit in.gov/indot/communitycrossings and click on "Community Crossings Matching Grant."