St. John applied for the Fall 2025 call of the Community Crossings Matching Grant. Unfortunately, like most other communities in Northwest Indiana and across Indiana, we were denied funding. This was due to a significant reduction in available statewide funds from about $234 million in previous cycles to $100 million for this call.
As you can imagine, many towns and cities across Indiana were deeply concerned about the limited Community Crossings funding awarded this past fall. The reduced awards negatively impacted infrastructure improvement plans in communities throughout the state, including St. John.
In response, Senate Bill 179 has been introduced and would allow for an additional $75 million call for projects in Spring 2026, reserved specifically for communities that did not receive funding in the Fall 2025 round. While the bill is still pending committee review, the Town of St. John is monitoring it closely and remains hopeful for this additional opportunity.
St. John still plans to move forward with road paving this Spring; however, the number of roads included in this year’s program will be reduced due to the lack of grant funding. The Town plans to invest, at minimum, our $1,000,000 local match and is currently reviewing the road list submitted with our application to determine which roads can be completed in 2026. While the scope of work will be smaller than originally planned, maintaining and improving our roadways remains a priority for the Town.