The Porter County Highway Department is asking for a funding boost. Senior Highway Engineer Matt Gavelek told the county commissioners last week that about 40 percent of county roads are in poor condition, and the county's current strategy isn't keeping up with deterioration.
"In the next five years, we have about 70 percent of our roads [that] need heavy rehab or reconstruction. That's a huge challenge we have ahead of us, and so it's important that we're doing the right strategies now," Gavelek said.
He said the county could start to reverse the decline by doubling its annual asphalt budget to $4 million. But adding another $2 million on top of that would give the county a lot more "good"-rated roads.
Commissioner Jeff Good blamed at least part of the problem on state highway construction projects pushing drivers onto local roads. "It's concerning to us. We need to get back on top of this. But these detours that the states give, they give us a little bit of money to sort of handle the detour, but in the long run, it's really a very, very small pittance," Good said.
He added that American Rescue Plan money can't be used on paving projects. Commissioner Jim Biggs said the county may have to "tax differently" in the future.
In the meantime, the commissioners gave their blessing to up to $1.45 million in additional appropriations for crack sealing and chip seal work. That's money that's currently in the highway department's funds but not budgeted to be spent this year. Those requests are expected to go to the county council next month.
