Motorists can expect to see plenty more construction on area highways in the next few years – including nine projects on U.S. 30 – as more money for road work becomes available.
Gov. Eric Holcomb recently released detailed project lists for each county, and Kosciusko County is slated to see $41.3 million in construction work over the next five years.
That’s on top of the new influx of gas tax revenues the county will see and use on roads beginning within months.
The additional work for state and local roads has been sought for years.
Details of what the state has in store for its roads were released less than two weeks after a 10-cent gas tax went into effect across the state on July 1.
The state priority list includes work on U.S. 30 as well as Ind. 13, 14, 15 and 25, according to information provided by the state.
The number of projects per year starts out slow, with three or five happening each year in 2018, 2019 and 2020. But in the final two years, the number of projects jumps to seven each year.
Work in 2018 will involve drain and ditch projects that cross under state highways.
By 2021, the state has two bridge replacement proposals in the county: Plunge Creek bridge on Ind. 13 south of Ind. 14 and Eagle Creek bridge on Ind. 15 just north of Warsaw Community High School. Combined, the proposals are expected to cost about $2.7 million.
The biggest proposal is set to arrive in 2021, when the state will seek to resurface U.S. 30 from Etna Green to Ind. 15 in Warsaw. That comes with an estimated price tag of just under $15 million.
Road work on U.S. 30 will continue in 2022 as the state plans significant bridge work on three structures between Warsaw and Etna Green. The state lists the work as six projects involving eastbound and westbound lanes. Combined, those projects will cost about $4.2 million.
In terms of dedicated dollars, Kosciusko’s project list is the second biggest of surrounding counties. Below is the amount of dedicated road money that will be used in nearby counties for state-related road work over the next five years:
• Elkhart, $45.8 million
• Marshall, $25.2 million
• Whitley, $17.7 million
• Fulton, $15.8 million
• Noble, $13.6 million
• Wabash, $8.7 million
