FRANKFORT, Ind. (April 24, 2024) – Frankfort Street Department Superintendent Jason Forsythe is hopeful the next few months of work will result in a $1million grant to replace warning signs – stop signs, yield signs, white and yellow signs – throughout the city.
Forsythe was given approval by the Board of Works (BOW) Monday to begin the process to work with representatives from Butler Fairman & Seufert (BF&S) to inventory all those signs and develop a cost associated for their replacement – something that presents a challenge as the project future start date could be four to five years out and the need to project what signs might cost in the future.
The grant is made available by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) via the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). The grant is 90-percent, 10-percent – leaving the city to budget for the 10-percent.
“This is a long process,” said Chris Milne, GIS Manager for BF&S.
Milne noted the application is due by the end of November 2024, early December 2024 with announcement of the awarded grants in Spring 2025 with programs beginning four to five years out.
Milne provided the city has “a significant amount of signs.”
After the meeting, Forsythe shared he thought the number of signs that would be included in this grant to approach 3,500 with a sign replacement cost of $1million to 1.2million with the city needing to budget approximately $100,000 for its contribution after the grant is applied.
The completed grant application will also include BF&S developing a web-based sign management asset tool allowing the city to track replacement of signs moving forward regardless of the grant being awarded.
The BOW unanimously approved moving forward with the grant application and web tool with BF&S with an upfront cost not to exceed $10,000 which will be billed hourly.
