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CR 17 ramp project proceedsBy Barbara Brown County Engineer Mic Dahlberg asked the commissioners to approve three steps to continue seeking federal and state funding to design and build a ramp from I-35 to CR17. The board agreed to allow Dahlberg and his staff to seek bids from engineering firms, continue talks with the state Department of Transportation and investigate the benefits of an official map of the area surrounding the proposed ramp. However, before coming to unanimous agreement on those three issues, the board heard a presentation from Dahlberg and discussed the issues for nearly 2 hours. Some time ago, the board passed a resolution that an on-off ramp at CR17 was one of its highest priorities. Since then, staff has been working with the state and federal transportation departments to get funding for the project, which has an estimated total price tag of $7.8 million. The project would include ramp access from northbound and southbound I-35 and a park and ride lot. The majority of funding would come from federal high priority project money. The county could see a commitment of only $57,000 if all federal and state expected money comes in, Dahlberg said. ìWe have real money available,î Dahlberg said. ìThere would be no need for an additional levy for any piece of this proposal.î Dahlberg presented the board with a tentative schedule that puts design completion of the entire project in September 2005. ©ECM Post Review |