BLOOMINGTON — The Indiana Department of Transportation awarded Monroe County $1.5 million and the City of Bloomington $750,000 for improvements to local infrastructure.
The money comes from the Community Crossings Matching Grant program, which started in 2016.
This year, the program allocated $200 million to cities, towns and counties around the state to repair bridges, fill potholes and repave roads.
Monroe County Highway Director Lisa Ridge said most of the grant money will go toward paving projects.
“We submitted basically $3 million worth of paving projects,” she said. “We were awarded the $1.5 million, and then we have to pay the other $1.5 million.”
Ridge said the projects are a mix of county roads and subdivisions.
"We don’t make our decisions based on where somebody lives, what their job is, how much they make, how much they pay in property taxes,” she said. “We base it on the need of the road."
Both the city and county are bidding contracts for the projects, and construction is expected to begin later this year.
Residents can report potholes on both the city and the county’s websites.
