Lawrence County officials have requested $9 million in federal economic stimulus funds to pay for road improvements and construction.

Lawrence County Commissioner Jason Stephens said Thursday the request was made through the KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission.

The $9 million list includes money for the Ironton Public Transit Center ($1.3 million), the intermodal facility at The Point Industrial Park ($3.6 million), the renovation of Depot Street in Ironton ($700,000), Ironton traffic signalization upgrade ($1.5 million), improvements to the Delaware Street area of Ironton to accommodate new schools ($460,000) and improvements to Charlie Creek Road at U.S. 52 in the vicinity of the new motel and the Lawrence County Airpark ($1.3 million).

The request also includes $175,000 for new minivans for the Tri-State Transit Authority, the entity that operates Lawrence County’s new bus system.

“It’s a good list,” Stephens said. “There is opportunity there for us.”

Also Thursday, the commission agreed to formulate a policy that would require entities to pass a petition and get a certain number of signatures before putting a funding levy on the ballot. Commissioner Doug Malone proposed the policy.

Malone said this would educate the public on why a group is asking for a levy, it would give the group asking for the levy some idea if they even have a chance of getting the levy passed and it may save the county money because a plethora of levies can, in some cases, require bigger ballots on election day.

“One year we had three groups wanting a levy,” Malone recalled. “And I think it shows impartiality on our part.”