Infrastructure News Summary
For June 3, 2008

BROADWAY UPGRADE ON TRACK, M'VILLE OFFICIALS STILL UPSET
Post-Tribune
Piet Levy
6/2/08

MERRILLVILLE -- There's one place Town Council President Ron Widing doesn't like to go -- down Broadway. Specifically, the 1.25-mile stretch of Broadway that's been under construction for more than a year, beginning about a mile north of U.S. 30, where traffic in either direction is reduced to a single lane. Several businesses have complained about the construction's negative impact, said Councilman Shawn Pettit. "The general public has to be scratching their heads as to what's going on," Pettit said. The Indiana Department of Transportation broke ground on the $8.3 million renovation project in May 2007. It's an INDOT project, because Broadway is a state highway. http://www.post-trib.com/news/982051,mvbroadway.article

NEW SIDEWALK RAMPS PLANNED FOR S.R. 32, S.R. 19 IN NOBLESVILLE
Noblesville Daily Times
6/2/08

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. - Later this week, Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) contractors will begin installing new sidewalk ramps along downtown sections of Conner Street (S.R. 32) and Cicero Road (S.R. 19). INDOT resurfaced the state highways last year and those projects also call for replacing any sidewalk ramps that do not meet federal ADA standards. http://www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14793&Itemid=99999999

PART OF GREEN RIVER ROAD CLOSED TODAY
Evansville Courier & Press
6/2/08

Road work will shut down a portion of Green River Road today and Tuesday. The Indiana Department of Transportation will close it starting this morning between Morgan Avenue and Vogel Road for a railroad crossing repair. It is expected to open by end of the day Tuesday. On June 9, the roadway will close again while crews make permanent repairs and upgrades as part of an intersection improvement. It is expected to reopen two weeks later, by the end of the day June 23. http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jun/02/part-green-river-road-closed-today/

CHENEY CALLS SUSPENDING GAS TAX A 'FALSE NOTION'
The Associated Press
Ben Feller
6/3/08

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday rejected a suspension of the federal gasoline tax as proposed by his party's presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain. Cheney said it would offer little help to consumers coping with gas prices around $4 a gallon. The vice president's critique went further than President Bush's own comments on the idea, which appears dead anyway. "I think it's a false notion, in the sense that you're not going to have much of an impact, given the size of the gasoline tax on the total cost of the gallon of gas," Cheney said when asked about the matter during a luncheon appearance. "You might buy a little bit of relief there, but it's minimal." The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline on Monday was $3.98, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Of that total, the federal tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080603/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney

CONSTRUCTION COINCIDES WITH FEWER CRASHES
Post Tribune
Teresa Auch
6/2/08

PORTAGE -- Construction season leads to orange barrels, lower speed limits and concrete barriers that drivers have to wind their way around, especially on U.S. 6. One thing it hasn't led to is an increase of accidents. Accidents for April and May are down compared to the same months last year, Sgt. Keith Hughes said. Although those numbers are for the city overall, the decrease holds true when looking at just U.S. 6, most of which is under construction in its Portage boundaries. "There's not an increase, surprisingly," Hughes said. "I figured that it would be because it's a mess down there." http://www.post-trib.com/news/982040,ptgaccident.article