MOUNT VERNON — Tuesday was the deadline for those interested in getting stimulus money for transportation projects to submit them to Recovery.Ohio.gov. The Ohio Department of Transportation estimates transportation infrastructure funding will be around $774 million.
All of those who submitted a project to Recovery.Ohio.gov are required to complete a project information sheet. These information sheets are due back to ODOT by Thursday at 5 p.m. ODOT has until March 17 to submit a completed project list to the Federal Highway Administration.
According to Gov. Ted Strickland's office, Friday is the final date to submit expressions of interest for drinking water and water pollution control infrastructure projects to Recovery.Ohio.gov. All pre-application nomination forms must be submitted to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency by 5 p.m. Friday, March 13.
Once OEPA has received a final list of projects, it will release a list of prioritized projects, also called an intended use plan. This IUP is subject to public notice, public comment and public hearing requirements.
According to Strickland’s office, as of Tuesday there were 15,000 projects submitted. Of those, more than 100 are projects in Knox County.
Projects include 17 in the highway category, 12 in the drinking water categoryy, 22 in the clean water category, 21 in the energy and environment category, and three each in the transit and education categories. County projects led the way, with most of these being road or bridge projects. Other entities submitting projects include Danville, four; Fredericktown, four; Gambier, two; Mount Vernon, 14; and Centerburg, seven. East Knox and Fredericktown school districts submitted two and three, respectively.
Six projects related to Knox County MRDD projects, and involved sealing and paving existing parking lots, and creating a new lot. Three in the transit category were submitted by the Mid Ohio Transit Authority. They involved purchase of four vehicles and a security system, as well as facility upgrades for the MOTA building.
Several other projects submitted as of Tuesday involved a youth wrestling program, requests for solar panels, and a request for the purchase of a computer for a boat repair program. The highest amount of money requested is $60 million for a water treatment plant in Danville, $9 million for the Woodward Opera House, $6.7 million for a county bridge replacement, $5.6 million for the Ohio 95 road upgrade and $4.7 million for a sewer system to eight hamlets in the county.
The Ohio 95 project projected the highest number of jobs at 1,500; several Fredericktown water and wastewater projects estimated 200 jobs would be involved.
Deadlines for submitting projects in other categories have not yet been established.
