The Clinton County Road 580 West bridge over the South Fork of the Wildcat Creek has seen better days.
“It’s pretty well shot. It was built in the 1920s,” Clinton County Highway Superintendent Kevin Myer said.
The county now is in the process of replacing the bridge. That means a detour on Mulberry Jefferson Road to Indiana 38 until the bridge reopens in May, Myer said.
In a larger sense, Clinton County’s ramshackle span epitomizes Indiana counties’ struggle to keep up with road and bridge repairs.
Myer said the county often relies on federal aid to fund projects like the Wildcat Creek bridge, which cost $937,040 to replace. In federal aid projects, the local government pays 20 percent of the cost and federal highway funds pay for the other 80 percent.
Too often, however, replacement costs are prohibitive — even with federal assistance — which often leads to repairing bridges and downgrading their load capacities, Myer said.
“We’re like any other county,” Myer said. “We got some bridges and roads that need some attention.”
Help might be in the works in Senate Bill 67, which state Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, authored. The bill, which is reported to be fast-tracked, would distribute local income taxes held in reserve by the state. If approved, the one-time windfall would refund $418 million to Indiana counties, cities and towns.