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Carmel still seeking 96th and Keystone funding
By Kevin Kane
Current in Carmel
In September, the City of Carmel submitted a 25-page application to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) seeking a $78.3 million TIGER grant, which is part of the stimulus act. The money was intended to fund construction of a two-level roundabout at the intersection of 96th Street and Keystone Parkway, but after not receiving the grant, Carmel is left searching for other options to fund the project.
Mayor Jim Brainard said prior to the Feb. 17 announcement of grant recipients that, while he is usually optimistic about Carmel’s chances for grants, in this case he was not. The TIGER grant program had $1.5 billion to award and 1,400 applicants seeking about 40 times that amount. Brainard said the sheer volume of requests made it unlikely Carmel would be one of the 51 applications accepted.
“We knew it would be a long shot,” he said. “We weren't counting on getting it but we still tried.”
Brainard said the city has funding available to add additional lanes at the intersection but said that, while it will require additional funds, the creation of a roundabout would be a better solution. He said Carmel will look at other federal grants to fund the roundabout, including additional TIGER dollars that are expected to be available in the future. The funding of other elements of the Keystone project, Brainard stressed, are not affected by the absence of TIGER funding. The money only would have been used for the 96th and Keystone intersection. While it is still unclear where funding for this portion will come from, Brainard said it should only be a matter or time before this is known.
“We have a good project and we're confident it will get funded,” he said. |
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