Infrastructure News Summary
For May 5, 2008

CALHOUN TO CLOSE MONDAY, TUESDAY
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
5/4/08

Downtown drivers will have one less north-south route early this week. The city will close Calhoun Street between Jefferson Boulevard and Washington Boulevard on Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting. The closure will let Brooks Construction mill the pavement and resurface the area. The intersections of Calhoun and Jefferson and Calhoun and Washington will also be milled and resurfaced during this time. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080504/LOCAL/805040449/1002/LOCAL

TAX DISTRICT BOLSTERS MAPLECREST
COMMISSIONERS ADVANCE PLAN FOR EXTENSION
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Amanda Iacone
5/3/08

The Allen County commissioners moved ahead Friday with a plan to create a special taxing district along Adams Center Road that could help pay for the Maplecrest Road extension. The commissioners approved a tax increment financing district between Paulding Road and Interstate 469. The designation allows property taxes to be captured from new development there to help pay for infrastructure improvements, such as the Maplecrest project, that serve the area. The plan now moves to the county redevelopment commission, which will have a public hearing before a final vote. The county plan commission has already signed off on the district. Both New Haven and Fort Wayne previously created similar districts within their city limits. New Haven has agreed to send some of the tax dollars generated in its district - which wraps around the intersection of Indiana 930 and Adams Center Road and includes the Do it Best headquarters - to extend Maplecrest. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080503/LOCAL/805030352/-1/LOCAL08

KENT SPARED IN SR 256 WIDENING
The Madison Courier
Emily Taylor
5/3/08

State Road 256 will not be widened through the community of Kent when it is upgraded to connect Madison to Interstate 65. County commissioners were updated on the project by Indiana Department of Transportation officials Friday. The stretch of road through Kent will be resurfaced and further improved, said Marvin Jenkins, INDOT's director of public information for the Seymour district. He was interviewed on the phone later Friday. The road on both sides of Kent, west toward Austin and east toward Madison, will be widened and curbs will be added. The widening will begin a few hundred feet from the community limit sign on the east side of Kent and around the bridge on the west end of the community. The exact locations have not been determined, Jenkins said. The decision was made in part because of dissent from residents of Kent. The highway runs directly through the community, and widening it would have affected many property owners, as well as churches and some businesses. More than 140 people attended a public meeting called to address the issue in August 2007. Many voiced opposition to widening the road through the community. http://www.madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=253&ArticleID=43083

INDOT TO BEGIN REPAVING
SR 28 west of Ridgeville
Winchester News-Gazette
5/2/08

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Monday will take initial steps toward repaving a six-mile section of State Road 28 between State Road 1 and Ridgeville in Randolph County. Contracted crews from Brooks Construction will begin full-depth patching of the roadbed at the S.R. 1 flasher and progress eastward for two days. After that, workers will require approximately six days to mill the worn asphalt surface prior to repaving. http://www.winchesternewsgazette.com/articles/2008/05/02/news/news2.txt

INDIANA LEADERS WELCOME START ON 'FORT TO PORT' ROAD
Bloomington Herald Times
5/2/08

FORT WAYNE - A $170 million road project that will boost the link between Fort Wayne and Toledo, Ohio, took another step forward when state leaders broke ground on the first Indiana section of the new U.S. 24. The project dubbed "Fort to Port" drew praise for the safety improvements it will bring to a two-lane road that has seen a high number of fatal crashes. "You will save lives on what has been known as the highway of death," state Rep. Randy Borror, R-Fort Wayne, told Gov. Mitch Daniels at the Wednesday ceremony. Daniels said the lease of the Indiana Toll Road that traverses northern Indiana helped bring about the U.S. 24 project. The project will eventually link Fort Wayne and Toledo with an interstate-like highway. Indiana's portion is an 11-mile stretch from I-469 outside Fort Wayne to the Ohio line. The first segment of that runs west of Indiana 101 to the state line.
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IND. 37 TO BE CLOSED FOR PROJECT
The Herald Bulletin
5/2/08

ELWOOD - A 12.6 mile section of Indiana 37 in Madison and Grant counties will be rebuilt starting with construction at the bridge over Big Duck Creek and replacement of drainage pipes and culverts along the route, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Transportation. Beginning Monday, May 12, the roadway between Indiana 28 and Indiana 26 will be closed to traffic for 90 days. Brooks Construction of Fort Wayne has been contracted by INDOT to mill the old pavement and add three lifts of new HMA asphalt. The refurbished roadbed will sport 12-foot lanes and shoulders widened to eight feet. This $12.4 million Major Moves project includes a new bridge deck overlay at Big Duck Creek and an improved traffic signal at Indiana 37 intersection with Indiana 28. The Indiana 26 intersection gets a new flasher. According to the news release, INDOT advises motorists traveling northbound on Indiana 37 to detour on Indiana 28 east to Indiana 9; take Indiana 9 north to Indiana 26; and return westbound on Indiana 26 to Indiana 37. Southbound travelers should reverse the detour route. http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_123211139.html

212 BRIDGE REHAB ALMOST DONE
The News-Dispatch
Laurie Wink
5/2/08

MICHIGAN CITY - Area drivers have only about six weeks to wait before they can once again use the Indiana 212 bridge. The project is on schedule for completion in mid-June, according to Joshua Bingham, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation. He said workers began pouring concrete for the bridge deck Thursday. Once that is completed, work will begin on bridge approaches and railings. INDOT closed the bridge over the South Shore Railroad tracks in August after determining it to be unsafe. An inspection found corrosion was happening faster than anticipated. The closing came days after the collapse of a bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis that caused the death of 13 people. INDOT awarded the $2 million contract for the Indiana 212 bridge replacement to Superior Construction of Gary. The original bridge was built in 1972. http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=12939&TM=39612.18