Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The county roads and city streets could be in for a face-lift over the next two years if the House in the General Assembly follows the lead of the Indiana Senate.
State Sen. Kent Adams (R-Bremen) announced Monday the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 199, earmarking $200 million of the state's $2 billion surplus for local roads and streets. The bill now moves to the Indiana House for consideration.
"The funding in SB 199 equals nearly the amount of revenue that would be generated in one year by a 3-1/2-cent-per-gallon state gasoline tax," he said. "However, thanks to the conservative spending habits of the General Assembly and a strong Indiana economy, the money is available from the record-high state budget surplus."
He added Kosciusko County would be due $2,316,570 over the two-year budget cycle if the measure is approved by the House.
The County Highway Department's allocation would be $1,805,700. Warsaw would receive $303,900; Winona Lake, $111,200; Milford, $38,660; Mentone, $25,270; Leesburg, $16,320; and Etna Green, $15,520.
"Providing these extra funds for local governments throughout Indiana to improve roads and streets is a great way to put our budget surplus to work," Adams said.
The streets in Warsaw would be upgraded by building or replacing curbs throughout the city, according to superintendent Lacy Francis.
"We'd probably use that money to curb areas that don't have curbs yet or to repair the curbs in areas where that is needed," he said. "It's definitely money we can use. We could get a lot of curbs done with that money."
Francis said that the current rate of curbing one city block on both sides of the street is $5,600, meaning approximately 54 city blocks could be recurbed.
Robert Ladson, county engineer and highway superintendent, said if that money becomes available, his intention would be to use it for road paving materials - hot asphalt, gravel, etc.
"I don't want to say that we would be using all that money for nothing but repaving, but we would use it to buy the paving materials," Ladson said.
If the county were to use the total amount of funds it would be able to pave approximately 25 miles of country roads at the current average rate of $70,000 per mile, he said.
