Federal funding to help Lafayette repair winter-damaged streets
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The streets of Lafayette took a beating in the winter of 2022, so much so that the city will direct millions in federal funding for repairs.
The funding, coming from the American Rescue Plan Act, will address sewer, water and street projects, the Lafayette City Council decided unanimously Tuesday. The American Rescue Plan Act was signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021 to address effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on local governments.
In addition to paying for water and sewer infrastructures, Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds can be directed to projects that "address the impacts of climate change," according to the ARPA description.
"This winter did a lot of damage on city streets," Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski told the Journal & Courier Tuesday, "more than the winters we've previously seen. This wasn't the coldest on record for the number of days. It certainly had its bad days.
"The damage, though, a lot of it depends on the moisture that gets down in the cracks and pops it. We pave, we crack seal, we do what's called chip patch. We do all of those things to try and stay caught up."
The method of chip patching, according to a Washington state municipal description, uses a thin film of heated asphalt liquid sprayed on the road surface that is then covered by "chips." A chip seal will last an average of seven years, stated Island County, Wash.
Of the $350 billion available to U.S. governments, the city of Lafayette received roughly $16.7 million — allocated equally in 2021 and 2022. The federal funding enables the city to address most of the issues caused by the damaging winter.
Without the $16.7 million, Roswarski said, obviously not as many streets would be fixed.
"The roads, we just wouldn't pave as many," the mayor said. "We wouldn't take it out of the Rainy Day Fund, so we are already taking money from Motor Vehicle Highway (Fund), already taking money from the wheel tax, using all of that and we're using some other funds. After that, that's where we would just stop."
A wheel tax is paid when you register your vehicle in the state of Indiana and is based on the number of wheels on that vehicle. A portion of that registration fee goes to fund road projects.
Tuesday's vote, approving the second half of the federal funding, extended the city's ability to address street issues impacted by the weather.
"With that extra money, we are going to try and get all of Kossuth Street done this year," Roswarski said, "and a few other roads. Getting all of Ninth Street done, all of 18th, Kossuth, the concrete work out at Twyckenham and Dover Estates, the smaller roads.
"We put a pretty good dent in it, but no, we could probably pave about $5 million worth of roads, when it's all said and done, with all the money. We could easily do $10 million through the next three years, and that would probably get us to where we wanted."
Deanna Watson is the executive editor at the Journal & Courier. Contact her at dwatson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @deannawatson66.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette damaged streets to be repaired through federal funding
