Starke County Receives Railroad Crossing Marking and Signs Grant

Posted on September 20, 2017
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI

The state recently awarded Starke County a grant to update railroad crossings and signs.

Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the Starke County Commissioners Monday that there are no matching funds for this grant.

“The good news is $36,000 is 100 percent paid for. We don’t have to pay anything. We do have to keep the records. Even better news is that TCS (Traffic Control Specialists) can do it cheaper than we can. They have a painting machine and it keeps the money in Starke County. It keeps the tax money in the county and all of their workers live in Starke County. It’s a good thing,” said Ritzler.

The grant will cover all of the railroad crossings in the county.  Ritzler said 15 of them will be getting both markings and signs while 8 other crossings will get markings and four will only receive signs.

Commission President Donnie Binkley signed the necessary paperwork to get the process rolling as soon as possible.