Sycamore Township Awarded $4.4 Million in Grant Funding for Infrastructure Improvements
In May 2020, the residents of Hamilton County voted to replace Cincinnati Metro’s existing funding model, which relied primarily on the city’s earnings tax, with a new funding structure. In January 2021, a 0.8-percent county sales tax started funding what is now called SORTA. Seventy-five percent of the sales tax levy (or 0.6 percent) funds Metro’s bus service operations and capital costs. The remaining 25 percent (0.2 percent) goes toward the Transit Infrastructure Fund for improvements such as roads, bridges and sidewalks that fall within Metro’s service area.
Sycamore Township has several Metro Bus Routes that serve our community. Since the adoption of the program, the Township has been successful in obtaining grant funding for the Montgomery Road Sidewalk Project & the Euclid Road Sidewalk Project. Sycamore Township Administrator, Tracy Kellums and staff aggressively pursued the largest grant award (through the Transit Infrastructure Fund) for our community to date.
We are happy to share that the Kenwood Road Project and the Finley Lane Sidewalk Project were awarded grant funding for 90% of the construction costs. The estimated cost for the Kenwood Road Project is $4.7 million dollars and the Township will receive $4.2 million in grant funding. The estimated cost of the Finley Lane Project is $262K and the Township will receive $236K in grant funding.
The scope for the Kenwood Road Project consists of curb replacement, new decorative sidewalk (from Montgomery Rd. to Galbraith Road Rd.) sidewalk replacement (from Galbraith to Blue Ash Corp Line), new curb ramps, resurfacing of the road, decorative pavement marking, and illuminated street signs at Orchard. On Finley Lane we will be constructing a sidewalk on the north side of the road from the Indian Hill/Township Corp Line to Montgomery Rd. It is anticipated that construction for both projects will be performed in the summer of 2024.
The pursuit of grant funding and implementation of these projects are part of the Sycamore Township Trustees Strategic Planning to make our community safer, more walkable and to preserve our infrastructure.
If you have questions about either of the projects slated for next year, the Transit Infrastructure Fund, or future funding applications that the Township is considering, please contact Mike Gould at 513 792-7251 or [email protected].
