Infrastructure News Summary
For July 3, 2008
STRETCH OF EDDY STREET TO CLOSE FOR CONSTRUCTION
WNDU
7/2/08
A section of Eddy Street will be closed until next summer for construction of
a 200-million-dollar project. Eddy will close from Edison to Napoleon -- just
south of Notre Dame's campus -- on Monday, and won't reopen until 2009.
Developers are working on the Eddy Street Commons project there. Workers will be
putting in sewer, water, and gas lines, and will be doing road work for the
project. http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/22847749.html
BLACKISTON MILL BRIDGE GETTING UPGRADE
The News and Tribune
Chris Morris
7/2/08
The bridge connecting Clark and Floyd counties - on Blackiston Mill Road -
will soon receive a facelift. The Floyd County Commissioners accepted bids
Tuesday night to upgrade the bridge. County engineer Gordon Martin said
expansion joints will be replaced, along with curbing, guardrails and paving. He
said there is a long-term plan to enter into an agreement with Clark County to
replace the bridge. The five companies to bid for the job included MAC
Construction, $118,479; Gohman Asphalt, $132,000; American Contracting,
$167,857; Erber and Milligan Construction, $124,445 and Easy Construction,
$89,821. The estimated cost for the project is $117,500. The commissioners
likely will award the bid at the next meeting July 15, and work will begin soon
after, Martin said. http://www.newsandtribune.com/local/local_story_184103234.html
CONSTRUCTION CLOSES PART OF GREENWAY PASSAGE
Evansville Courier & Press
&/2/08
The Greenway Passage from south of the Lloyd Expressway to Franklin Street
will be closed for about the next month during construction in the area. Road
crews are beginning work there on the new Fulton Avenue-Lloyd Expressway
interchange. http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jul/02/construction-close-part-greenway-passage/
NEW ALBANY ANNOUNCES STREETS FOR PAVING
RESURFACING PROJECT STARTS MONDAY ON STATE STREET
The News and Tribune
Daniel Suddeath
7/2/08
Three New Albany streets have been marked for paving, with work scheduled to
begin Monday, Deputy Mayor and Director of Development Carl Malysz said Tuesday.
The first resurfacing effort will be State Street, from Elm Street to Union
Street. Malysz said the paving would not extend further down State Street
because of a water-line upgrade scheduled by Indiana American Water Co. for the
area in coming weeks. Upon completion of the State Street portion, crews will
resurface Mount Tabor Road from Charlestown Road to Grant Line Road. Though the
street is scheduled for a federally funded reconstruction, Malysz said the
design hasn't been completed yet, meaning the project would not start for a few
more years. http://www.newsandtribune.com/floydcounty/local_story_184124547.html?keyword=topstory
FINALLY, MAPLECREST MOVES
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
7/2/08
Allen County Council members made the right decision last week in approving a
$25 million bond issue to complete the financing package for the needed
Maplecrest Road extension. Responding to tough questioning and oversight by the
council - especially Councilman Cal Miller - the Allen County commissioners
worked with planners to develop various scenarios regarding paying back the $25
million without using general property taxes. Ultimately, the exercise rightly
forced the commissioners to examine the financing package and led to answers
that convinced even Miller that the financing was sound. The council controls
the county's purse strings, while the commissioners administer several key
departments, including those overseeing roads, bridges and planning. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/EDIT07/807020334
CP, STATE OFFICIALS REVISIT PROPOSED BROADWAY FIXES
The NWI Times
Kathleen Quilligan
7/2/08
CROWN POINT | More details about how the state's transportation department
plans to decongest Broadway will be released at the upcoming Aug. 4 Crown Point
City Council meeting, local officials said Wednesday. "We're on the right
track," said state Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh, D-Crown Point, Wednesday
afternoon as she drove back to Crown Point after a morning meeting in
Indianapolis with Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Karl
Browning, Mayor David Uran and other INDOT and city officials. Concerned about
the flow of traffic and safety on Broadway between 93rd and 109th streets,
VanDenburgh and Uran began talks last year regarding how to improve the traffic
on the road before its 2012 scheduled expansion by INDOT. VanDenburgh said the
earliest INDOT would be able to start the project would be July of next year
because of right-of-way acquisitions. INDOT budgeted $8.2 million for the 2012
expansion that could be put toward fixing the intersections. http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/07/02/updates/breaking_news/doc486bdfd0a8db8320186193.txt
CHALLENGER URGES DANIELS TO SUSPEND GAS TAX
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Niki Kelly
7/2/08
INDIANAPOLIS - With gasoline prices averaging $4.11 a gallon and the Fourth
of July just days away, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jill Long Thompson
urged Gov. Mitch Daniels on Tuesday to suspend the state sales tax on gas until
Labor Day. The move would save someone with a weekly $50 fill-up about $3.50 a
week, she estimated, or $28 over two months. But the cost to the state's general
fund in lost sales tax revenue would be much higher - $122 million for a 60-day
suspension. "The bigger concern that I have is how far behind many families
are falling as a result of high gasoline prices and how that is affecting the
prices of so many consumer items because of the cost of transportation,"
Long Thompson said at a news conference across the street from a downtown
Indianapolis gas station. Her proposal would not affect state gas taxes, which
finance road construction and maintenance. Indiana is one of only seven states
that tax gasoline purchases. Long Thompson also wants to permanently cap that
tax at a $2.75 pump price but didn't discuss that proposal Tuesday. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/NEWS07/807020360/1002/LOCAL
NEW 34TH ST. BRIDGE OPENS OVER I-465
WTHR
7/2/08
Indianapolis - Ahead of the busy July 4th travel holiday, the Indiana
Department of Transportation (INDOT) opened the new West 34th Street bridge over
I-465 at 3:05 p.m. Wednesday. The bridge was rebuilt over the past five months
as part of Accelerate 465 infrastructure upgrades on the westside. The new
bridge will allow more lanes of a revitalized I-465 to travel below. On West
34th Street above, wider shoulders and six-foot sidewalks now safely accommodate
pedestrian and bicycle traffic. New bridge piers, retaining walls and metal
railings reflect architectural design elements seen elsewhere with Accelerate
465. Bloomington contractor Weddle Brothers replaced both the 46th and 34th
Street overpasses on the westside as part of a $10.6 million INDOT contract. http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8611255&nav=menu188_2
IND. 46 DETOUR A SAFETY CONCERN; RUNAROUND NEARLY DONE
Bloomington Herald Times
Laura Lane
7/3/08
SPENCER - Before the floods came and the Fish Creek bridge washed away, Bob
and Judi Christenberry would sit out on their front porch of an evening and wave
at an occasional neighbor driving past on their way home from work. "Now
you've got 10 or 15 cars and trucks at a time going down the road
together," Judi Christenberry said this week. Rural Patricksburg Road -
which doesn't even have a dividing line down the middle - is heavily traveled
these days as motorists seek a way around a closed bridge on Ind. 46 over Fish
Creek, 4 miles west of Spencer. Driving is treacherous. The road is narrow and
twisting, and the asphalt is falling away on the sides, damaged from flooding
and semi truck traffic. A loaded semi can weigh 80,000 pounds, Richardson said;
the county road weight limit is 8,000 pounds.
For more information, please call TRIAD at 1-800-288-7423.
PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE, ROUNDABOUT DEBUT
The Indianapolis Star
7/3/08
PLAINFIELD - Town Council members snipped a red, white and blue ribbon for a
ceremonial opening of the pedestrian bridge over White Lick Creek along Main
Street. The $1.4 million span of steel and concrete is in an A-frame shape
nearly eight stories tall with a large red "P" on top, intended to
create a landmark for motorists into the old downtown on U.S. 40. The bridge
also will link trails and connect the town business district with the new
Plainfield Youth Athletic Complex. A fundraising campaign of $6.5 million has
been started to raise much of the money for the sports complex for soccer,
baseball, football and other games. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080703/LOCAL05/807030438/1001/NEWS