Infrastructure News Summary
For May 6, 2008

REPAVING OF IND. 28 BEGINS TODAY
The Star Press
5/5/08

RIDGEVILLE - The Indiana Department of Transportation today will take initial steps toward repaving a six-mile stretch of Ind. 28 between Ind. 1 and Ridgeville. Crews from Brooks Construction will begin full-depth patching of the roadbed at the Ind. 1 flasher and progress eastward for two days. After that, workers will need about six days to mill the worn asphalt surface before repaving.
http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080505/NEWS06/80505010/1002/NEWS01

INTERSECTIONS TO BE IMPROVED FOR TRUCK TRAFFIC
Times-Union
Jennifer Peryam
5/5/08

Two Warsaw intersections are scheduled to be improved to allow for semi truck traffic to maneuver better. Indiana Department of Transportation recently announced Ind. 15 will be restricted to one lane between Prairie and Market streets in Warsaw beginning Wednesday. The restriction will allow crews to begin an added turn lane, signal modification and resurfacing project. The improvements will include creating larger turning lanes at the intersections of Ind. 15 and Ind. 25, and at Winona Avenue and Detroit Street, according to Warsaw Street Superintendent Lacy Francis. Both intersections will receive traffic signal modifications and new crosswalk markings at the intersections to improve traffic flow. New curbs will be installed. Utilities affected by the project will be relocated. There will be a right-turn lane on the southeast corner of Buffalo and Ind. 15S created, Francis said. http://www.timesuniononline.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=224&ArticleID=32873&TM=68534.08

CONSTRUCTION MOVING FORWARD ON ZILWAUKEE BRIDGE
Fox 28 News
5/5/08

Michigan State transportation officials say work is progressing on Interstate 75 across the Zilwaukee Bridge. WSGW-AM and WNEM-TV report drivers will soon see a brace on the outside of the bridge's northbound lanes. Engineers designed the brace after workers unexpectedly nicked several reinforcing steel inside the concrete span last month. The $3.3 million project hit a snag when crews determined that more than 30 new bearings weren't designed properly. Each circular bearing weighs a few thousand pounds, and is 3 feet in diameter. The bearings allow the bridge to expand and contract with temperature variations. http://www.fox28.com/News/index.php?ID=37075

S'VILLE ROAD TO BE REBUILT THIS YEAR
The NWI Times
Vanessa Renderman
5/6/08

SCHERERVILLE | A rough stretch of Schererville roadway could be rebuilt some time this year. The town wants to bid out a project this summer that would reconstruct a 1.1-mile length of St. John Road, Public Works Director Jeff Huet said. The street will be rebuilt from the base up, and the improvements will include new curbs, some sidewalks, storm sewer work and a section of water line rehabilitation, Huet said. Crews will rebuild St. John Road from U.S. 30 to about 300 yards south of 77th Avenue. During the anticipated four-month construction time frame, the road will be open to local traffic only, Huet said. The project will straighten out the St. John Road S-curve a little and expand the lanes to provide one northbound, one southbound and one center turn lane, Huet said. Although the road is in bad shape, the town hasn't put much money toward repairs the past few years, in anticipation of this major reconstruction project. There wouldn't be a point in doing $10,000 or $15,000 in repairs, only for it to get torn up and rebuilt, Huet said. http://nwi.com/articles/2008/05/06/news/lake_county/doc5c43bee583be0d9f86257441000a78a2.txt

GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES SHOULD EMPHASIZE ENVIRONMENT
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Jesse Kharbanda
5/5/08

Just over 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt famously referred to the presidency as a "bully pulpit." That powerful image could just as well be applied to the governorship. And the candidates vying to fill that seat in Indiana should embrace the possibilities of that role in advancing one of Roosevelt's most cherished causes - improving our environment. Making significant strides in improving Indiana's environmental quality is crucial if we are to leave a rich legacy for our next generation, and it is essential if we are to succeed in making major strides in improving our state's public health and in advancing a cutting-edge economy. There are three areas that candidates should focus on to be stewards of Indiana's environment: energy, transportation and agriculture.
1. Let's build a substantial market for renewable energy in Indiana.
2. Let's think imaginatively about Indiana's transportation system. Indiana has the sixth-highest road network density in the U.S. And yet we find ourselves on course to using our dwindling federal-state highway funds on "new terrain" - multibillion dollar highway projects that do not have long-term financing solutions, such as the Interstate 69 Evansville-to-Indianapolis project. Indiana should instead dedicate its precious Major Moves funds toward upgrading our existing highway infrastructure and investing in light-rail and mass transit transportation systems that will save Hoosiers billions in gasoline and congestion costs and save thousands of acres of irreplaceable forest and wetlands.
3. Let's strive for Hoosier agricultural development that treads lightly on our waterways. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080505/EDIT05/805050323