Several road projects in Chilton County covered under the Rural Assistance Match Program (RAMP) are scheduled to begin within the next couple of months.

RAMP allows counties and cities to be eligible to receive as much as $1 million in state funds to match an additional $4 million in federal funds.

Chilton County received $5 million for projects to be completed under the RAMP program.

According to Chilton County Engineer Tony Wearren, the next project under RAMP will be the resurfacing of County Road 29.

Wearren said the project starts at County Road 48 and goes all the way to County Road 42, near Jemison.

“The project was actually let out for contract last Friday,” Wearren said. “Wiregrass Construction got the contract. That project will be a total resurface where the road will be patched, leveled, widened and striped. I would anticipate the project to begin mid-April.”

A second project set to begin within the next couple of months is the resurfacing of County Road 48.

Wearren said the road comes off County Road 28 and goes into County Road 42, and is set to be let out for contract at the end of March.

A third project to be completed soon is a bridge on County Road 214 (Kieser Morgan Road) over Spur Mulberry Creek.

“A lot of this depends on ALDOT as far as timing goes, but we do anticipate that being one of the next projects,” Wearren said.

In all, 22 counties were eligible to participate in RAMP based on current local funding needs.

During the Dec. 10, 2012, Chilton County Commission meeting, commissioners voted to participate in the Rural Assistance Match Program.

RAMP allows ALDOT to sell bonds to provide the local match for participating counties and cities.

Counties taking part in RAMP previously had no projects, or only limited projects, as part of ATRIP due to limited local funds.

RAMP did not require the matching funds the county would have had to come up with under ATRIP.

RAMP allows additional counties to take part in Bentley’s statewide road improvement initiative of ATRIP.

All 67 Alabama counties have now received ATRIP projects since Bentley established the program in 2012.

Gov. Robert Bentley announced in May 2013 that 254 RAMP projects were expected to be completed in Alabama.