As the usual winter potholes have appeared and a midweek storm might bring much more snowfall to Indiana, the city of Muncie is announcing its road paving schedule for the year.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.

Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour’s office says the city street department will tackle 63 projects this year.  The mayor says it’s an increase in paving, partly due to pandemic-related challenges.  Last August, Ridenour said while the city had money for paving, contractors were behind.

“We had the money budgeted and we have the projects planned and ready to go.  But some of the schedules of the contractors – because everything was shut down in 2020 – so they got behind in their work, and, therefore, are still finishing up ’20 work before they’ll start the ’21.”

Of the 63 total projects, the city says 24 are still being reviewed by the State of Indiana for the last part of the year.

A full list of streets will be posted on the city website once the state approves all projects.  For now, here are the streets included in a press release:

• New York Avenue
• Greenwood Avenue
• Elgin Street
• Mulberry Street
• Beechwood Avenue
• Edgewood Drive
• Briar Road
• 22nd Street
• Maplewood Avenue

Muncie Sanitary District drainage work will also require repaving streets like Riverside and Hoyt avenues.

Muncie city spokesman Tony Sandleben says the schedule reflects a 6-year paving plan the Ridenour administration created from an independent study of Muncie road conditions done in 2017.  In 2020, Ridenour said the city would start with the study’s worst-graded streets and work up.

“And it ranks them from 10, which is the best, to zero, which is ‘This is ridiculous – needs to be replaced immediately.’  And we’re starting with the worst streets.  And then the next year, we’re doing the next worst streets and the next worst streets.”

But highly traveled streets like Tillotson Avenue and McGalliard Road won’t be getting a makeover this year.  The city previously announced parts of those streets will be repaired as part of a Federal Highway Administration funds matching program.  But officials say the work is not scheduled to begin until fiscal year 2026.