FREDERICKTOWN — The Village of Fredericktown has received two Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) grants for proposed public improvements.

The first grant covers $800,000 in safety enhancements such as lighting, new railing, decorative lettering on the Ohio 95 bridge. These funds will be available in state fiscal year 2027.

These enhancements may include safety enhancements, such as lighting and new railing, and decorative lettering (‘WELCOME TO FREDERICKTOWN’) on the bridge. ODOT will be performing significant structural improvements to the bridge, as well.  

ODOT has selected the Fredericktown Safe Routes for Non-Drivers Project for funding in the Carbon Reduction Program. Guidance in the BIL states CRP provides 80% of the eligible costs in Federal funds.

However, the BIL guidelines allow the use of 80% Federal CRP funding matched with 20% Federal Safety funding to fund CRP projects.

Village administrator Bruce Snell said the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made the first grant award possible.

Applicants requesting Transportation Alternative Funding (TAP) whose population was less than 5,000 residents were eligible for a new Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) funding.

Snell said the grant was extremely competitive, with each application reviewed for its transportation needs, costs, and benefits to the local community.

Second grant

Secondly, ODOT recently informed Fredericktown that the Village will receive additional TAP funding for the Ohio 95 Bridge Enhancements project.

This more than 50-year-old bridge is heavily traveled, serving as an overpass over Ohio 13. In the past, ODOT has provided 80% of the eligible costs in federal funds through the Transportation Alternatives Program, according to a Fredericktown press release.

This year, ODOT is utilizing Toll Revenue Credit (TRC) and will provide 95% of the eligible costs in Federal funds, up to a maximum of $550,000 in Federal funds through the Transportation Alternative Program, in State Fiscal Year 2027, the release also states.

This project entails installing up to a mile of new sidewalk throughout the community to get motorists and pedestrians to and from their destinations safely, without traveling on a heavily traveled state route, Snell said.

The village is partnering with ODOT to complete the TAP-funded $1.7 million Downtown Streetscape project in downtown Fredericktown, according to the release.

“Mayor Jerry Day and village council are deeply appreciative of ODOT selecting these two projects for a combined $1.35 million in estimated new funding,” Snell said.

“We look forward to continuing this successful intergovernmental partnership with ODOT, as we begin the preliminary design and engineering work on these public improvements.”