County Highway Funding

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Muskingum County, situated in Appalachian Ohio, features 527 miles of country roads with more than 400 bridges. 

Muskingum County Engineer Mark Eicher revealed the dynamics of keeping all of that rural infrastructure maintained.

“We couldn’t operate here without grant money,” Eicher said. “We apply for every grant that we possibly can. We have 5… 1,2,3… 6 bridges that we have funded through the next 5 years at up to $8 Million dollars in grant money. Our budget is such that we absolutely cannot maintain the county without the grants and going after the grant monies. We don’t have any additional monies for the paving projects. We do that solely through grants.”

Eicher noted that even through the tight budgeting the Muskingum County Commissioners have been generous about making sure that vital projects receive the funding to assure their completion. Many smaller projects like culvert replacement can be done in house but larger projects such as bridges must be bid out to contractors and maintaining a good relationship helps to ensure that the taxpayers are getting the best bang for their buck. 

“The projects in 2025 went really well,” Eicher said. “I mean all of our paving turned out excellent. Our bridge projects turned out well. We replaced the… you know like the one on Potts Lane. and we were able to replace the bridge and get that done and get it done in time before the paving came through and we were able to pave that whole corridor after that bridge was replaced. All the projects went really well.”

Maintaining safe roadways is a multifaceted endeavor that takes constant inspection and years of planning which can all be affected in a moment’s notice by severe weather or a natural disaster.