Infrastructure News Summary
For July 30, 2008

USI girds for orange cone season
Evansville Courier & Press
Mark Wilson
7/30/08

Students and employees who make it through area road construction to get to the University of Southern Indiana in September could face more traffic issues once they reach campus. Construction of a traffic loop around the campus wasn't planned to begin until next spring, but part of the work will be done this summer to accommodate construction of the Business and Engineering Center, said Steve Helfrich, USI director of facility planning and operations. A curve in Bent Twig Road near the north Administration Services Annex will be straightened out to make room for the new building. Crews from Blankenberger Brothers will move the road closer to Reflection Lake. Bent Twig Road eventually will become the western side of a loop that will route traffic around the campus. Work will start Aug. 18 and last until mid-October, said Fred Kalvelage, USI's staff architect and construction manager. http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jul/30/usi-girds-for-orange-cone-season/

Town copes with delays in two street projects
Chesterton Tribune
Kevin Never
7/29/08

If motorists think it's taking longer than it should to complete the paving of Broadway between Eighth Street and 19th Street-longer too to cap the road cut on Porter Ave. between Fifth Street and Eighth Street, where a force main was replaced-they're right. As Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg told the Town Council at its meeting Monday night, Broadway was milled on July 18 and was supposed to be paved on July 23. "But that didn't happen," he said, after contractor Walsh & Kelly Inc. of Griffith developed a scheduling conflict. Walsh & Kelly made three other dates to complete the work, Schnadenberg noted, but was unable to keep them. Finally, on Saturday, a crew applied binder to Broadway as far west as 15th Street and to the Porter Ave. road cut, but large swathes of street remain in the milled stage and it's anybody's guess when the whole of the project will be done. http://www.chestertontribune.com/Town%20of%20Chesterton/7293%20town_copes_with_delays_in_two_st.htm

Work underway on one of state's most dangerous intersections
WSBT
John Paul
7/29/08

ST. JOSEPH CO. - People who live and work near the intersection of US-31 and Roosevelt Road said they see accidents on a regular basis. For the past decade more than 100 accidents, some of them fatal, occurred at the intersection. Construction workers are stationed along US-31 to pave the road and make other modifications to plans that were originally too costly, and created nearly two decades ago. The road has a bad reputation in the area as a dangerous intersection. There's no turning lane on the fast moving highway, but steep hills prohibit turning safely at the intersection. State Farm ranked the intersection as one of the state's most dangerous. INDOT is attempting to make the intersection safer, planning first to lower the crest of the hill about three feet to improve visibility. That plan proved too costly, so adjustments were made. INDOT is also adding a middle turn lane to prevent rear-end accidents. The $1.5 million project is expected to wrap up by mid-September. http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/26073534.html

Time Corners Roadway Improvement Project
Indiana's News Center
Scott Sarvay
7/29/08

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - Time Corners Roadway Improvement Project will progress to the next phase of construction beginning Wednesday, July 30, 2008. This next phase will be on Covington Road west of Getz Road and will include the installation of median center curb, new curbs and gutters, and sidewalks. The contractor, E & B Paving Inc., will be responsible for placement and maintenance of all warning signs and barricades. http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/26065359.html

Taylor-Ardmore project begins
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
7/29/08

Taylor Street will be closed from Ardmore Avenue east to Portage Boulevard today for the start of a project to rework the intersection Ardmore and Taylor. During the closure, Brooks Construction will construct left-turn lanes in all directions and a right-turn lane on Taylor Street for westbound traffic. The new signalized intersection will replace the existing four-way stop. The project is scheduled to be completed in mid-November. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/LOCAL/807290385/-1/LOCAL07

Old State Route 1 will close Monday at bridge over I-70
Palladium-Item
7/29/08

CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. - The Indiana Department of Transportation on Monday will close Old State Road 1 at the bridge over Interstate 70, a move that will impact school buses into late fall. Erber & Milligan Construction of Charleston holds the $288,767 contract for repairing the bridge structure, reconstructing the deck, replacing railing and patching the pavement at both approaches. Old S.R. 1 - also designated CR 1000W and Brick Church Road - is two miles west of the current Ind. 1 highway, north of Cambridge City in Jackson Township of Wayne County. http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/UPDATES/80729010

Public input sought about realigning U.S. 27 curve
No timeline set for project
Palladium-Item
Kate Klein
7/29/08

The City of Richmond and the Indiana Department of Transportation are hosting a public meeting to discuss realigning the U.S. 27 or Chester Boulevard curve between North B and North D streets. Greg Stiens, director of the Department of Public Works and Engineering, said the purpose of the meeting is to hear public input on proposals for the course of the curve, a curve that takes U.S. 27 from Ninth Street to Eighth Street as it flows south through downtown Richmond. The project would be part of phase three of the U.S. 27 renovations. Stiens said INDOT has not set a timeline for the project. Stiens said one idea is to make it cut across the parking lot for Ace USA insurance company at 120 N. Ninth St. Another proposal would require the state to purchase private property along the current curve so the road can be shifted north and straightened. http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/NEWS01/807290305