FORTVILLE — Plans to revamp Main Street in Fortville have hit a yellow light.
A delay in feedback from a railroad company has triggered concerns over the project’s ability to be bid adequately before the end of the fiscal year. To ensure grant funding won’t be lost, officials have decided to postpone the project until spring 2021.
The project area for the $2.3 million endeavor is on Main Street between Church and Broadway streets. It will rehabilitate the road, add bump-outs to crosswalks and intersections, widen sidewalks by up to 18 inches and add trees, pedestrian lighting, signage and benches.
Seventy-three street parking spaces will line Main Street in the project area upon completion, 13 fewer that what’s there now. The project will also turn Main Street between Pearl and Noel streets into a one-way “speed table” (a block-long, slightly elevated area of pavement akin to a speed bump) for southbound traffic on the west side of the street while bollards will cordon off space to the east for pedestrians. The side reserved for vehicles will be able to be closed off with removable bollards to connect the area to the park on the west side of Main Street for events.
Joe Renner, Fortville town manager, said at a town council meeting last week that it took longer than expected for CSX Transportation to sign off on the project’s plans. A CSX railroad track crosses Main Street in the project area.
Debra Kunce, managing principal at Indianapolis-based Core Planning Strategies, which is assisting Fortville with the project, told the Daily Reporter in an email that the project needed CSX’s OK before moving forward.
“CSX has a sign-off on the proposed improvements, but also requires one of their staff be present during the actual construction work at the railroad,” Kunce said.
The delay pushed bidding for the project to April, Renner said at the town council meeting.
The Madison County Council of Governments awarded federal grant funding to Fortville for the project in 2018. Renner said because of CSX’s delay, the council was concerned that if no bids came in or if bids were too high, there wouldn’t be enough time to re-bid the project before the end of the fiscal year in July.
The Madison County Council of Governments decided to bump bidding to July, allowing plenty of time to rebid if any issues arise, Renner continued.
“If we try to do it this year without that opportunity, then there’s a chance we would lose the funds altogether,” he said.
According to information provided by Core Planning Strategies, the reconstruction of Main Street won’t begin until spring 2021 and will continue until November 2021.
The Federal Highway Administration is covering 80 percent of the project while the Fortville Redevelopment Commission has committed the local 20 percent match with tax increment financing dollars it oversees.
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Fortville Main Street improvements
Church Street to Broadway Street
Street rehabilitation
Bump-outs at crosswalks and intersections
White striping at crosswalks
Wider sidewalks
Trees
Curb ramps at crossings
Lighting
Signage
Benches
Cost: $2.3 million, with 80 percent coming from a federal program.
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PARKING ANXIETY: Fortville council OKs Main Street plan, reduces number of lost parking spaces
