Business View Civil Municipal - Sept 2023

67 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 LOGANSPORT, INDIANA Regarding road repair, each year, the city repaves multiple roads with funds provided by the Community Crossings Matching Grant Program. Launched in 2016, Community Crossings is a partnership between the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and Indiana communities, both urban and rural, to invest in infrastructure projects that catalyze economic development, create jobs, and strengthen local transportation networks. To date, the state has awarded $1.148 billion dollars to support local road and bridge projects. “That is a 50/50 grant program, so we’ve added over seven miles of brand new road,” Martin notes. One particular road project was the rehab and redesign of a downtown portion of Erie Ave., a 57-ft. wide corridor that hadn’t been refurbished in over 30 years. “We worked with the city council and with a downtown organization, Logan’s Landing, and some area businesses within a two or three-block radius, and finally got that done. We also ‘road-dieted,’ so it’s no longer 57 feet wide. Now, I think we’re set for another ten to fifteen years on that road.” The city also was awarded two federal Safe Routes to Schools sidewalk grants and 7.5 miles of new and replaced sidewalks around all of its elementary schools starting in 2025. In addition to roads and sidewalks, Jacob Pomasl, Logansport’s Deputy Mayor, adds that the city, which owns all of its own utilities -- water, electricity, sewer, and stormwater -- is in the process of some major storm and sewer upgrades. It is also looking to improve its fiber network. “We’ve heard from certain companies in town that are planning to make major investments in upgrading their networks to fiber, which is something that we haven’t had for residential customers,” he states. “We’ve had it for businesses, but there’s going to be a big fiber buildout in town to reach the residential consumer, which I think will help greatly in this new world of work from home and remote work.