Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler informed the county commissioners this week that he received a notice to proceed with the installation of new railroad signs and markings to assist with safety measures.
“I will be meeting with TCS to do that as they were awarded that contract,” explained Ritzler. “They’ll be doing the markings and we’ll be doing the signs. All of the crossings in the county will be upgraded. INDOT is paying 100 percent of that. The county doesn’t have to pay anything.”
A timetable will be released to the commissioners of when that project will begin. The grant was for $36,692.29.
On the topic of safety, INDOT has given permission to the county highway department to install reflectors at all state road intersections. Red and yellow reflectors are already present on poles containing stop and yield signs on county roads to enhance notification of the traffic change. Ritzler hopes this will decrease the number of accidents at some intersections in the county.
Ritzler added that the vehicular accident audit for 2017 will be complete this month. He noted that the number of accidents is lower than at this time last year. The final report will be presented during a future commissioners meeting.
