County commission seeks grants for chip-and-seal roads

The Jackson County Commissioners may apply for one or more federal grants to resurface several chip-and-seal roads in the county, it has been reported.

During a recent Jackson County Commission meeting, the commissioners met with Brett Waggoner of Governmental Assistance Services of Lawrence, who outlined three potential grants the county could seek for road improvement funds.

The commissioners and road and bridge personnel are interested in reclaiming several chip-and-seal roads, repairing them and then overlaying them with something “more permanent” like asphalt, the commissioners said. 

Waggoner said the county could apply for more than $25 million through the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, which supports projects that improve and expand “surface transportation infrastructure” in rural areas.

Ninety percent of the funds awarded through this program are for projects totaling $25 million or more, Waggoner said. 

The deadline to file for the program is August 2024, and there is a 20 percent minimum cost-share match required if the funds are awarded. 

Waggoner said the funds are awarded annually, and if the county’s application is denied, it can be reworked and resubmitted the following year.

He then outlined the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, which is another federal program aimed at supporting infrastructure projects.

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation was recently awarded a $17 million grant through RAISE to improve roads on the reservation. 

Waggoner said that RAISE grants range from $1 million to $25 million and that half the funds are awarded to urban projects with the other half going to rural projects.

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