The cities of Watervliet and Hartford and the Village of Lawton are among the 23 villages and cities across the state who will share in more than $3.5-million in state transportation grants for road repairs announced today by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The twenty-three communities with populations of less than 10,000 will receive road funding grants awarded through the Community Service Infrastructure Fund (CSIF) program. Established by the state Legislature in 2018 and administered by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the CSIF is a stop-gap program to help fund road projects in small communities. Successful projects were selected, in part, because they are paired with planned infrastructure work, coordinated with other road agencies, focused on extending the useful life of the road, and lacked other funding sources.
Watervliet’s Elm Street project will get $117,000 for repairs, and the city will provide a 50-percent match to produce $234,000 for that project. In Hartford, Wendell Avenue will get a repair project valued at $408,000 with a $204,000 grant and a local match of the same amount. The Village of Lawton is getting a $75,000 grant for work on North Nursery Street, 66th Avenue, Durkee Street, Point Way, 72nd Avenue, North Street, Fremont Street, 29th Street, and White Oak Road. As in the other cases, Lawton will provide a 50-percent match for that $150,000 project.
Gov. Whitmer says, “These grants will help communities across the state get their roads fixed right now,” and adds, “This funding will help meet some of our most critical infrastructure needs at the community level. While this should not be viewed as a solution to our statewide road funding crisis, it will serve as a critical measure of relief for these communities until we implement a real transportation funding solution.”
Grant awards range from $30,000 to $250,000 for road resurfacing, culvert replacement, pavement crack sealing, and other preservation measures. The communities set to receive road funding grants include the cities of Corunna, Laingsburg, Perry, Vassar, Grant, Center Line, Rose City, Watervliet, Albion, Hartford, Iron River, and DeWitt, along with the villages of Bancroft, Fairgrove, Hopkins, Muir, Morley, Shelby, Boyne Falls, Centreville, Lawton, L’Anse, and Carleton. Click this link for the project list and details: 2021-MI-Transportation-Grants-for-Villages-and-Cities
Enacted in 1987 and reauthorized in 1993, the Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) helps finance highway, road and street projects that are critical to the movement of people and products, and for getting workers to their jobs, materials to growers and manufacturers, and finished goods to consumers.
TEDF “Category B,” or the “Community Service Infrastructure Fund,” grants provide $3 million per year through Fiscal Year 2023 to be allocated for road improvements in cities and villages with a population of 10,000 or fewer.
