The man authorities say assaulted an Indiana Department of Transportation worker in Bourbon on Friday, Nov. 7 is behind bars tonight. Richard A. Roe, 56, of Rochester, is charged with battery. He’s jailed on a $25,000 bond in Marshall County in connection with that incident on State Road 331. Continue reading
The new stretch of U.S. 31 will open Thursday, Aug. 21st. The new road is 20 miles of divided, four-lane highway between the U.S. 20 bypass in South Bend and U.S. 30 near Plymouth. Restrictions will remain on the north end of the project near South Bend and the south end near Plymouth as construction continues through the remainder of this year. Continue reading
State Road 23 between Toto Road and Ober is open to traffic this morning. INDOT closed the highway yesterday afternoon after a sinkhole was discovered in the roadway. Agency officials advise repairs have been made, and the road is once again safe for travel.
U.S. 35 will be closed between County Road 800 South and County Road 900 South, about two miles south of State Road 10 in Starke County.
Indiana Department of Transportation officials say the closure begins today and will reopen in late April. Crews will be replacing a pipe across the road.
Southbound drivers will be detoured west on State Road 10, south on State Road 39, east on State Road 14, and back to U.S. 35. Northbound drivers will be detoured west on State Road 14, north on State Road 39, east on State Road 10, and back to U.S. 35.
With the start of spring, road construction projects are ready to begin.
This week is Work Zone Awareness Week in Indiana. The Indiana Department of Transportation is dedicated to continuously improving work zone safety and crews and motorists need to make highway work zones as safe as possible.
This year’s national theme is “Work Zone Speeding: A Costly Mistake”. Motorists can face fines up to $1,000 for speeding and up to $5,000 for driving recklessly through work zones. Fines are used to fund additional Indiana State Police work zone patrols and promote public safety.
The entities have partnered to award $5,000 in scholarships to students who compose the most creative, inspiring and viral posts on Twitter, Instagram or Vine using the slogan “Drive Now. TXT L8R.” The high school and college student whose post has the most tweets, retweets and favorites on Twitter will win. For Vine and Instagram entries, the most likes and the most creative will win.
Metal scrappers are stealing wiring from highway light poles along the I-80/94 and I-65 corridors in Northwest Indiana. Over the last two years, state highway lighting wire theft has cost Indiana taxpayers more than $300,000 in repair and replacement costs.
Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Matt Deitchley noted that the crossings are south of U.S. 6. Both crossings are in need of repairs and will close at the same time to minimize future traffic disruptions.
Southbound travelers on State Road 39 will be rerouted west on U.S. 6, south on U.S. 421, east on U.S. 30 and back to State Road 39. Northbound traffic will be detoured west on U.S. 30, north on U.S. 421, east on U.S. 6 and back to State Road 39.
Crews have begun to disassemble the bridge on U.S. 35 just south of the U.S. 30 intersection in Starke County.
INDOT spokesperson Matt Deitchley noted that the project is on schedule with the finishing date in November.
INDOT will also be closing State Road 39 between State Road 8 and U.S. 30 for two days this week. The closure becomes effective today (Monday, July 15) and will run through the end of the day tomorrow. Crews will perform a chip and seal and fog seal operation to preserve the road surface. This project is weather dependent.
Fog seal is applied on top of the chip-seal work. It is a light application that locks in loose stones and helps deter dust.
The chip-seal process involves distributing a liquid asphalt emulsion on the roadway and covering that with crushed stone to provide a new surface. When the road reopens be mindful that loose stone will be on the roadway during the initial cure of the roadway. If you follow another vehicle too closely, loose stones may fly up and damage windshields. The stones may also damage paint of vehicles. You are urged to slow down until the new surface becomes cured.
During this surface work, you are urged to use the official detour which directs northbound State Road 39 traffic west on State Road 8, north on U.S. 421, east on U.S. 30 and back to State Road 39. Southbound State Road 39 traffic will be rerouted west on U.S. 30, south on U.S. 421, east on State Road 8 and back to State Road 39.
The Indiana Department of Transportation announced that the section of road will be closed to all traffic until the construction of the new bridge is complete in October. The closure was initiated Wednesday afternoon.
Eastbound traffic on U.S. 6 will be detoured south on State Road 39, east on U.S. 30, north on U.S. 35 and back to U.S. 6. Westbound U.S. 6 traffic will travel south on U.S. 35, west on U.S. 30, north on State Road 39 and back to U.S. 6.
The National Weather Service, Indiana State Police, Indiana Department of Transportation, and Indiana Department of Homeland Security are encouraging Hoosiers to get ready for potential flooding during Flood Safety Awareness Week, March 18-22.
The Indiana Department of Transportation is currently developing plans to replace the bridge on US 35, just a half-mile south of US 30 in Starke County. The project carries an estimated cost of $5 million, but INDOT has said they plan to use state and federal funds for construction.
INDOT says the current structure is deteriorating, and the project would improve the operation while increasing the required vertical clearance over the CSX railroad beneath the bridge. They say the construction would require approximately 1.35 acres of new permanent right-of-way, but no displacement of residents or businesses would be involved in the project.
The Indiana Department of Transportation has awarded a bid to a Gary company on the bridge reconstruction project over the Yellow River on U.S. 35 in Knox.
Construction should begin on the U.S. 35 bridge by the end of April. Work on the bridge will be restricted to one lane at a time, so the other lane would remain open for one-way traffic, with a traffic signal controlling the flow of traffic. The expected length of the lane restrictions on the bridge is 150 days.
It’s the political campaigning season and the Indiana Department of Transportation wants to remind candidates that all campaign signs are prohibited from federal and state highway rights-of-way.
By law, INDOT crews are required to remove all unauthorized signs within the right-of-way. Prohibited areas include all interstates and their interchanges, all intersections where at least one local, state or federal road intersects with a state or federal highway, and an area that extends from a federal or state highway to the back of a ditch, to the fence line or up to utility poles.
The Indiana Department of Transportation will be closing the U.S. 35 railroad crossing in downtown Knox beginning Thursday, March 15th. Crews will fill potholes and smooth the crossing surface. The crossing is expected to be open Friday, March 16th in the evening.
Be sure to plan ahead and secure alternative routes during this construction project. INDOT reminds you to use caution and consider worker safety when driving through a construction zone.
A slight hiccup in the Monterey Bridge project has brought with it some extra cost—but not to Pulaski County. Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the county commissioners this week that a small sliver of land along the riverbank slipped under their radar and must be acquired before the project to continue. However, because the parcel wasn’t appraised along with the other properties or included in the right-of-way engineering, an additional cost would be incurred.
The thought of snow is certainly not appealing, but the thought that the County Highway Departments and the City Street Departments are ready for the snow is very appealing.
The Starke County Highway Department told us that they’re ready for winter weather. The salt shed is full with road salt and sand and the snow plows have been serviced and ready to tackle the roads.
The Quigley Ditch Bridge replacement project on U.S. 35 in Winamac is nearing completion. This project began in July.
The bridge deck should be poured in the next week or so and if weather cooperates, the area should open up with the removal of the temporary traffic signal the week of October 24th. The Indiana Department of Transportation informed WKVI that there may still be some work beyond the last week of October, but any restrictions will be handled by flaggers.
The Indiana Department of Transportation urges drivers to be extremely cautious around wet paint on the road as LaPorte District crews apply pavement markings. About 5,600 lane miles will be re-striped in the LaPorte District now through October.
When encountering a road striping crew, use a generous following distance, avoid driving over the newly painted markings and never recklessly pull in front of or pass a striping operation. If drivers do get paint on their vehicles, they should attempt to wash the paint off as quickly as possible. Fresh paint will often come off easily with soap and water. However, after it dries only a specialist can remove it.
With over $1.5 billion in new Indiana highway projects beginning work, 2011 is shaping up to be Indiana’s largest road construction season on record. As part of Work Zone Safety Awareness Week April 4th-8th, the Indiana Department of Transportation is helping educate motorists about the largest road construction projects that will impact local traffic this year.
