Infrastructure News Summary
For April 3, 2008

SIGNS HINT AT SR 44 PROJECT
The Shelbyville News
4/2/08

The "Major Moves" signs that have sprung up in Shelbyville are only signs of things to come in the spring of next year, according to city street commissioner Shane Peters. The Indiana Department of Transportation does not plan to begin the construction, resurfacing and widening of State Road 44 in Shelbyville until around May 2009, he said. "The signs are posted due to pending utility relocation only," Peters said. "It will be at least a year before the state starts those road construction projects." http://www.shelbynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=93&ArticleID=54788&TM=73784.33

UNION CO. BRACES FOR HIGHWAY REPAIRS
OFFICIALS SAY U.S. 27 SOUTH COULD CLOSE LATER THIS MONTH, STRAINING COUNTY ROADS
Palladium-Item
Pam Tharp
4/2/08

LIBERTY, Ind. -- The reconstruction of U.S. 27 South is about to get underway and Union County officials are worried about the project's impact on county roads. The $9.5 million contract awarded to Indianapolis contractor Gradex will level, straighten and widen about 3.5 miles of the highway between Liberty and the north edge of Cottage Grove. When construction begins, possibly later this month, the highway will be closed to non-local traffic until October 2009. INDOT recently sent the county a "letter of understanding" about an unofficial detour, a section of Nine Mile Road between U.S. 27, at the north edge of West College Corner, and Ind. 44. Union County Highway Supervisor Wanda Hartman said INDOT has taken pictures of the road's current condition and will restore it to that condition after the U.S. 27 project is done. http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/NEWS01/804020307/1008

WIDENING PROJECTS ON STATE ROADS WILL BE COMPLETED BY YEAR'S END
Journal & Courier
Curt Slyder
4/2/08

Springtime comes with several constants: baseball, robins and road crews. Greater Lafayette motorists will have to contend with several large construction projects this spring and summer. Leading the way will be the continuation of separate state projects to widen two heavily traveled state roads. Projects to widen Indiana 43 north of Interstate 65 and Indiana 26 east of I-65 to four lanes plus center turning lanes should wrap up this year. West Lafayette motorists will see phase two of a Salisbury Street improvement project that will involve new pavement, sidewalks, curbs and other safety improvements from Riley Lane to Rainbow Drive. Roadwork should begin sometime this summer, possibly lasting into 2009. http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/NEWS/804020328

WORK UNDER WAY ON FIRST PORTION OF INTERSTATE 69 PROJECT
Reporter-Times
4/2/08

Four months after a court victory over environmentalists, state highway officials are pushing ahead with their plans to start work this summer on the first segment of the long-planned Interstate 69 extension between Evansville and Indianapolis. State contractors began clearing trees and homes last month from a nearly 2-mile-long stretch in Gibson County to prepare for construction of the first piece of the 142-mile highway. Andy Dietrick, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation, said Tuesday that two homes and two outbuildings had been razed and about 100 trees felled in that tract. http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=98168&format=html
Also, http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/apr/02/i-69-bids-opened/

CLINTON STREET BRIDGE TO CLOSE FOR A YEAR
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Benjamin Lanka
4/2/08

Clinton Street commuters have some time to prepare, but they had better start thinking now about what they'll do during a yearlong bridge closure set to begin in 2010. The Fort Wayne Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved a revised coordination contract with the Indiana Department of Transportation for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge on Clinton Street over the St. Marys River. In order to cut costs and protect the area's parks, the project will no longer include a temporary bridge for Clinton Street traffic, City Engineer David Ross said. This will mean a saving of about $1 million for the project, he said, but it will require that the 26,000 drivers using the bridge each day find an alternative route. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/LOCAL/746041090/1002/LOCAL

COUNTY SEEKS INDOT FUNDS FOR BRIDGE PROJECT
The Corydon Democrat
Ron Schulz
4/2/08

Harrison County engineer Kevin Russel met with Indiana Dept. of Transportation officials to request federal funding for a bridge project in the county. Harrison County Bridge 58 is a 150-foot, single-span, steel through-truss bridge that carries Valley View Road over Indian Creek. The bridge was originally built in 1899 and was last repaired in 1993. It scored a 45.1, on a 0 to 100 scale, in the August 2006 statewide bridge sufficiency rating report. The rating ranked the bridge 71 out 74 county bridges. http://www.corydondemocrat.com/Articles-i-2008-04-01 206003.114125_County_seeks_INDOT_funds_for_bridge_project.html