Money to help pay for projects like the Bell Ford Bridge . . .
On Friday, Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization Executive Director Anna Gremling presented a check in the amount of $7,392,304 in federal funds to Hamilton County Board of Commissioners President Steve Dillinger, Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt and Commissioner Christine Altman.
The funds will help pay for three infrastructure projects, including the reconstruction of Bell Ford Bridge, a historic covered bridge that’s being relocated to Geist Park to provide both a park attraction and a connection point for the Geist and Fall Creek Nature Trails. The bridge is being moved from Jackson County to the park at 10979 Florida Road, where it will be restored and reconstructed over Fall Creek. The bridge will be a prominent feature as part of the county’s Recreational Connectivity Master Plan.
The Bell Ford Bridge, originally standing in Jackson County, will be restored and reconstructed over Fall Creek in Geist Park. (Photo provided)
The two other projects receiving funding are the resurfacing of 146th Street from U.S. 31 to Hazel Dell Parkway, and replacing Bridge 187, which spans Mud Creek on 106th Street east of Cumberland Road. Funding for all three projects will be available in State Fiscal Year 2024.
As part of an annual funding process, Hamilton County submitted projects for consideration by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is responsible for planning and programming federal transportation funds in the eight-county Central Indiana region. Projects are ranked based on such criteria as impacts to air quality, improvements to congestion, safety, pavement quality and more.
“It’s always a very competitive process with nearly 70 applications this year from 18 municipalities, but Hamilton County’s projects were among those that rose to the top,” Gremling said. “Building and maintaining infrastructure is one of local governments’ biggest challenges, and one of the ways they make a critical contribution to regional and state economies.”