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Infrastructure bill to send nearly $9-billion to Indiana over next decade

(Photo supplied/ABC 57)

The just-passed infrastructure bill will send nearly nine-billion dollars to Indiana over the next decade.

About three-quarters of the money is earmarked for roads. INDOT Commissioner Joe McGuinness says the federal funding will speed up the timetable for some projects already on INDOT’s seven-year plan. The long-discussed vision of making I-65 and I-70 six lanes wide from border to border is one project likely to move up.

INDOT had 13-hundred road projects for this year’s construction season. McGuinness says that list is likely to be longer in the coming years, but because the long-term plan is already in place, the agency won’t need to review what projects to do. And McGuinness says the money gives INDOT a cushion for any emergency needs which pop up.

The White House says the bill will deliver six-point-six-billion dollars in highway funding to Indiana. INDOT will also receive 100-million dollars to expand Indiana’s network of electric-vehicle charging stations.

INDOT’s also responsible for distributing more than a billion dollars to local authorities to spend on bridges, airports, and public transit. A similar amount will go to other agencies for items like water and sewer lines and broadband.

McGuinness cautions one of the first tasks will be to review the two-thousand-page bill to understand what rules or restrictions may be included on what projects are eligible for funding.

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