The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments is handing out $65 million in grants to transportation projects ranging from street repaving to trail improvements and bus upgrades.
Funding for OKI's annual infrastructure program comes from federal transportation dollars and requires a local match. This year the agency is awarding grants for 37 projects.
"You'll see things like busses, road widening, turn lanes, sidewalks, multi-use paths, traffic signal upgrades, and resurfacing," says Deputy Executive Director Bob Koehler.
Road resurfacing projects were one of the most popular to receive funding, including work on Queen City Ave., North Bend Road, Delhi Road, and Dixie Highway in Middletown, among others.
"This is our second year of allocating funds for repaving, and the reason we like that is because they're fairly simple and easy to implement, and are really useful for our community. Sometimes that's their biggest need — we've got to resurface this road. ... It's just mostly a quick 'mill and fill,' get in, get out, and get the job done, and move on," he explains.
There's also funding to assist the Western Hills Viaduct replacement project; dollars to pay for new SORTA and TANK busses; and grants for expanding local bike share programs on both sides of the river.
"Here's one that's kind of cool," Koehler tells WVXU. "Oxford has been working on their area trail system, and they're in their last phase, known as Phase Six, and they requested funding for that Phase Six. And today it was official that they were selected for funding. So for them, it's got to be very good to be able to finally complete their trail system, their big project they've been working on for many years."
Funding comes from the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Authority through the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program; Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) improvement funds; and Transportation Alternatives (TA) federal programs. Koehler says the agency only received funding for projects in Ohio and Kentucky this year, which is why no Indiana projects are listed.
Full list of funded projects
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