Infrastructure News Summary
For June 2, 2008

COUNTY OKS PAVING PROJECTS
WORK STARTS ON ROADS IN JUNE
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Amanda Iacone
5/31/08

Allen County is moving ahead with several paving projects this summer. The county commissioners approved bids for three resurfacing projects during their weekly meeting Friday. All three projects came in under the engineers' estimates, Commissioner Bill Brown said.
o The county will pay API Construction Corp. $102,315 for resurfacing streets through the Canyon Ridge Addition Two. Roads set for repaving are Canyon Ridge Road from Ranch Road to Vandolah Road; South Canyon Ridge Road from Ranch Road to the end; and Ranch Road from Canyon Ridge Road to Tonkel Road.
o Liberty Mills Road will have restricted traffic during repaving from West Jefferson Boulevard to Ellison Road. The county will pay $101,145 to E&B Paving for the work.
o Also, the commissioners agreed to pay $113,948 to Brooks Construction Co. to resurface Adams Center Road between the roundabout at Maples Road and Tillman Road.
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080531/LOCAL/805310379/1002/LOCAL

TRAFFIC ALERT: GREEN RIVER TO GET WORK
WFIE
Mike Mardis
5/31/08

Another major traffic area in Evansville will be under construction next week. A section of Green River Road between Morgan Avenue and Vogel Avenue will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Crews will be repairing the railroad crossing on the south side of Morgan ending work by the end of the day on Tuesday. Construction will also take place the following week at the intersection of Morgan and Green River Road to improve congestion. Four new turn lanes and traffic signals will be installed starting June 9 until the June 23. http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=8406576&nav=menu54_6
Also, http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jun/02/part-evansvilles-green-river-road-closed/

OLD LINES BENEATH CALHOUN TO GET FIX
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Benjamin Lanka
5/31/08

Sometimes road problems have more to do with what's under the road than the road itself.
Q. When they resurfaced Calhoun Street from Pettit to Paulding, I was happy. They added a middle turn lane that improved traffic flow. Since then, every year the southbound lane gets torn up and worked on in several spots. They have done work, filled in the holes and returned to refill them because they have sunk down so bad. Why do they have to do work on this lane every year? - E-mail from Laquerita of Fort Wayne
A. Thanks for your concern, Laquerita, and The Sage has good news. According to Shan Gunawardena, the city's traffic engineer, those problems were related to the city's old water main in the area. Every time a pipe bursts, crews would have to dig up the road to repair it. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080531/LOCAL0203/805310330/1002/LOCAL

ALLISONVILLE ROAD: COUNTY BRACES FOR ROAD CLOSURE
Noblesville Daily Times
Rob Borders
5/30/08

A section of Allisonville Road closes Monday for a bridge rehabilitation project over Stony Creek. The work should be complete and the road should reopen by Aug. 1, said Matt Knight, bridge program engineer for the Hamilton County Highway Department. Marinaro, a Wellington Northeast resident for the past 17 years, is worried the Wellington subdivision will become a major thoroughfare. "Traffic heading north on Allisonville road has become extremely heavy," Marinaro said. "Unless they really get that blocked off, all kinds of vehicles - even the big trucks will come through our subdivision." Local traffic traveling north on Allisonville Road will be able to proceed north of 146th Street as far as Wellington Parkway, Knight said, and traffic traveling south on Allisonville Road will be able to proceed south of Carbon Street to access the businesses north of the bridge. http://www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14737&Itemid=230

INDOT TO PAY FOR BRIDGE 13 REPAIRS
The Shelbyville News
Ron Hamilton
5/30/08

State officials had exciting news for local historians and preservationists on Thursday. The Indiana Department of Transportation announced it will help fund the much-needed repairs and restoration efforts on Bridge 13, the controversial 119-year-old structure that has been the object of an ongoing struggle between county officials and preservationists for years. According to state officials, the county will receive $488,000 in local public agency funding to help rebuild the bridge, which spans Buck Creek on County Road 875 West, a mile west of London in Moral Township. The bridge is noted among Hoosier historians as being one of the last remaining iron bridges in central Indiana.
http://www.shelbynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=93&ArticleID=55769&TM=56060.09

HENRY TEPID ON 'UNUSUAL' BRIDGE FIX
PETERS UNABLE TO ADVANCE TAX PLAN
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Amanda Iacone
5/31/08

Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters on Friday petitioned Mayor Tom Henry to support the county's bridge funding plan but came away without an answer. The two met Friday to discuss the issue, but Henry would not indicate whether he will support an increase in the surtax and wheel tax to help the county pay for bridge maintenance. Hours after meeting with Peters, Henry called the Allen County commissioners' decision to relinquish full responsibility for financing bridge maintenance "unusual." Representatives of the county's towns and cities have been meeting for months with Peters to find alternative sources to pay for maintaining and repairing bridges less than 200 feet long. The county hopes to obtain written agreements from area cities and towns promising to transfer back to the county the additional tax revenue so the county can continue maintaining 321 bridges scattered throughout the county. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080531/LOCAL/805310308/1002/LOCAL

CITY CONTEMPLATING STREET REPAVING
Evansville Courier & Press
Frank Boyett
6/1/08

The city of Henderson is contemplating doing about $475,000 worth of street repaving in the coming fiscal year, and the largest chunk of that spending will be on rebuilding part of North Elm Street. In fact, North Elm Street will likely take a big bite out of the city's street spending plans for the next five years, according to information recently given the Henderson City Commission. A rough plan for street spending was submitted by X.R. Royster, city public works director, and it shows the city spending $1.2 millon over the next five years to rebuild Elm between Atkinson Park and Watson Lane. That includes $150,000 each in the first and last years, and $300,000 each in the other three years. Although construction may be broken into phases, City Manager Russell Sights said he would rather have the design work done up-front. http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jun/01/city-contemplating-street-repaving/

INTERSECTION CLOSURE WILL FORCE DETOURS
The Indianapolis Star
6/1/08

The heavily traveled intersection of South Center Street and Hadley Road will be closed Monday through July 2 for construction of a roundabout. While the busy southside intersection is closed to traffic, motorists on the south and west sides of town will have to find other ways to get around the area. "We've tried everything possible to let people in that area know the intersection will have to be closed, so I hope they have heard the message and they won't be inconvenienced too much," said Donald E. McGillem, Plainfield's transportation director. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806010396