Officials prioritize top 5 infrastructure projects for Logan County
Employees of the Fishel Co. lay fiber optic cable along U.S. Route 33 in front of NEX Transport in eastern Logan County on Thursday. The highway infrastructure project that began this week will allow the road to be used for autonomous and connected vehicle testing. Local officials have identified five major projects, including an extension of fiber optic lines, as top needs to address if federal or state infrastructure money becomes available in the near future. (EXAMINER PHOTO | REUBEN MEES)
With the possibility of $1 trillion investment in infrastructure being promoted by President Donald Trump, a group of local leaders took the time to lay out a wishlist of major projects.
The group, which consisted of regional planners, elected officials and economic development groups, came up with a list of five multi-million dollar projects they believe would be a boon to local growth and development.
“The idea is to be ready to be ready,” David Gulden, director of the Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission, said. “The Columbus 2020 region includes several counties, including Logan. They included us in this effort to pick the top five projects. This group came together to come up with a list so when the feds do release a program we will be ready to react to it.”
The five-item list is called the Competitive Advantage Projects list and include the following:
- The top item on the list is an estimated $32 million wastewater treatment plant on the east side of Logan County that would serve the towns of East Liberty and Middleburg as well as the Transportation Research Center and Honda-related industries along the U.S. Route 33 corridor.
- The second project on the list is an extension of fiber optic cable along U.S. 33 from State Route 347 to the western county line.
- Third are improvements to the U.S. 33 intersections at U.S. Route 68 and State Route 274.
- The fourth is a $6.4 million selection of road projects from LUC’s transportation plan for Logan County.
- The final item is the top intermodal project — paving the Simon Kenton Trail from Urbana to Bellefontaine and extending it to Indian Lake — currently estimated at $3.8 million.
“These are the top tier projects,” Logan County Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Benedetti said. “IF federal money becomes available, we have a plan in place that could be implemented very quickly.”
The list also provides leverage for seeking grants that may become available through state transportation funding or other sources of grants.
Sanitary sewer
Read complete story with more photos in Saturday’s Examiner.
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