By John Estridge
There are several state highway, interstate and U.S. highway projects ongoing in the Franklin County area that are just completed and planned to be tweaked or planned for the near future.
This is from the Indiana Department of Transportation concerning projects in and around Franklin County. The big news for the Brookville/Metamora area is the construction on U.S. 52 is quickly wrapping up and detours on county roads not meant to carry traffic going 60-70 mph (Duck Creek, McGuire Ridge, Yellow Bank and Bushy among others) will be a thing of the past come mid August.
Here are the list of projects and planned projects:
- US 52 slide repair West of Brookville: The project is currently expected to wrap-up in mid-August, weather permitting, and U.S. 52 will reopen at that time. Once the soil nail work is complete, crews will pave the area and install guardrail. It is possible that pavement markings will be applied under lane closures with flagging after the road reopens. The cost of the project is approximately $2 million.
- Ind. 1/US 52 bridge painting (Indiana 1 over Whitewater River, US 52 over Big Cedar Creek): These projects are scheduled to start in early September due to birds nesting under the bridges and will wrap up later this fall.
- US 52 small structures near New Trenton: Both of these structures are complete other than some clean-up and small tasks to finish up. The road reopened in late June. We’ve had some reports of “dips” in the road near these structures. They will be remedied when US 52 is resurfaced later this year. “Rough Pavement” signage has also been placed to alert drivers until the resurface project takes place.
- Ind. 252 resurface (Whitewater Bridge to District line): This project will begin next spring. The contract was recently awarded to Paul H. Rohe Company.
- US 52 resurface (Ind. 1 to I-74): US 52 will be resurfaced later this summer. A shortage of HMA (hot mix asphalt) materials has pushed back the start date. It is still expected to be finished by the end of construction season at this time.
- Ind. 101 resurface (Ind. 1 to 0.13 miles N of Ind. 1): This is a smaller resurface project that will be completed this fall. The contract was awarded to Paul H. Rohe Company.
- Ind. 252 slide repair: A slide repair project will be completed in early spring 2021. It is planned to be complete prior to the Ind. 252 resurface project, but the contractor will work around the slide area if needed.
- Interstate-74 resurface (Ind. 101 to Ohio state line): Crews are currently working eastbound. The project is scheduled to be complete in October.
Source: Natalie Garrett, public relations director, Southeast District Indiana Department of Transportation