By Jason Michael White, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Expect more repaved roads across the county and a new entrance and exit for Interstate 65 in Greenwood if local communities get federal money to help pay for infrastructure projects.
President-elect Barack Obama plans to spend what may be close to $1 trillion on infrastructure projects throughout the country that are "shovel ready," meaning the design work is finished and construction can begin on short notice after funding is received.
The goal of the spending is to spur economic growth in the country as part of an economic stimulus package. Local officials are making plans to get portions of the economic stimulus money, and at least one city, Greenwood, is considering hiring lobbyists to help.
Greenwood's top two priorities are a new I-65 interchange at Worthsville Road and the expansion of Worthsville Road from U.S. 31 to the Shelby County line.
The county government plans to apply for money to repair a bridge over Youngs Creek and to repave more roads than last year, and at least one county council member would like to use federal money for a jail expansion.
The question community leaders are asking themselves is whether the projects they want federal funding for can be constructed with short notice, because design work isn't completed for anything on their wish lists.
For example, in Franklin, city officials plan to spend the rest of the month discussing which projects could use federal assistance to complete as part of Obama's economic stimulus package. They want to identify projects that have been on the city's wish list but have gone unfunded.
"Between now and the end of January, we're putting a tremendous amount of effort into this," Franklin Mayor Fred Paris said.
One possibility is the downtown revitalization project, which was dropped last year when bids came in too high, around $1.6 million, Paris said. Revitalization efforts were designed to attract new business to the downtown area.
"That project was ready to go," he said. "The question is can we rescope it quick enough to apply for that federal package?"
County officials design projects only when they know that money will be available to fund construction, said Gary Vandegriff, county highway director.
Design work can cost between $150,000 and $200,000, and officials don't want to spend that money to design a project that can't be constructed because the funding is not available, he said.
As a result, the county government doesn't have shovel-ready projects set aside that could be funded with federal economic stimulus money, Vandegriff said.
Instead, the county picked two projects being funded through other sources:
• Repaving. Each year the county ranks its roads and decides what its priorities are in terms of repaving. Federal dollars would let the county repave more roads this year than in 2008.
• The Home Avenue bridge over Youngs Creek in Franklin. The bridge was damaged by the flood and needs about $1 million for redesign work, which could be completed earlier with federal help.
The highway department could have a repaving plan ready for contractors as early as April, Vandegriff said.
Engineers are inspecting roads now, and which roads are repaved and how much is spent will depend on what they find, Vandegriff said.
Highway officials planned to use money in the county's budget for road repaving, but federal dollars would allow the county to repave additional roads, Vandegriff said. The county spent more than $1 million to repave roads in 2008.
For the bridge, the county planned to use money from the Metropolitan Planning Organization, but federal dollars would get the project done more quickly, Vandegriff said.
County officials wouldn't take money from the planning organization if federal dollars were secured to pay for the reconstruction, which calls for widening the bridge and installing new sidewalks, decks and beams, Vandegriff said.
The county would be able to apply for money from the planning organization for other projects later in the year.
In Greenwood, the city is considering hiring the Indianapolis law firm Bose, McKinney and Evans, which employs full-time lobbyists in Washington.
The lobbyists could help secure federal grant money, including economic stimulus money.
One of the top priorities for the city is a new Interstate 65 interchange at Worthsville Road, said Norm Gabehart, Greenwood director of operations. A new interstate interchange would cost about $25 million and provide a new location for businesses to move into the city.
The city also plans to extend Worthsville Road from U.S. 31 to the Shelby County line, which would cost about $12 million, Gabehart said.