INDOT road work, including ADA ramp upgrades, is slated to start Monday.
Kristy Deer | Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY — Road and curb work associated with a major project along U.S. 52 is expected to start Monday locally, Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and Hancock County road officials say.
The multi-phased project includes adding a roundabout at the intersection of Ind. 9 and U.S. 52 as well as asphalt patching which is already underway, ADA curb ramp reconstruction, mill and overlay, and road striping through the town of New Palestine.
There will be a road closure associated with the roundabout at Ind. 9 and U.S. 52, INDOT spokesperson Kyleigh Cramer said, when that part of the project starts on May 1. The roundabout construction will have a 120-day closure for traffic heading west on U.S. 52 while the rest of the work calls for no road closures along U.S. 52.
“We’re thinking if all goes well that roundabout should be complete in late August or early September,” Cramer said. “But, everything is weather-dependent.”
Cramer noted U.S. 52 at the intersection of Ind. 9 will be closed heading west during the construction of the roundabout, however Ind. 9 will remain open.
“We’re putting in a temporary road just east of State Road 9 so that becomes the State Road 9 of that area for a while,” Cramer said. “That will leave north and southbound movement and eastbound movement open, but westbound will not be accessible because of the work on U.S. 52 at that location.”
New Palestine residents along U.S. 52 have noticed metal sign posts and station markers on many properties lining U.S. 52 throughout town. There are also posts for the road construction throughout the county alerting drivers the project is about to start. Cramer noted they expect to get all the patching done in New Palestine this week and then start in on 63 different ADA ramps Monday.
The road work for the estimated $21 million overall project goes through Shelby, Hancock and Marion Counties. The work east of New Palestine starts with a bridge replacement over Big Blue River in Morristown and then the roundabout at Ind. 9 and U.S. 52 as well as work going all the way through New Palestine on U.S. 52 up to I-465.
In the county, some of the project will include overlay work all along U.S. 52. Overlay is any operation that consists of laying either Portland cement concrete or a hot mix asphalt over an existing pavement structure.
Officials will also widen an auxiliary lane and improve an intersection at CR 550W, plus overlay work on several bridges along U.S. 52 and make Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramp requirement improvements throughout the project.
County Engineer Gary Pool said his office did a lot of negotiating and work to make sure there will be very little road closure associated with the major project. Pool said the intersection at U.S. 52 and Ind. 9 will be open to traffic except for drivers wanting to go west on U.S. 52.
“They are going to have to lay down some pipes so there will be a little bit of a road closure where the roundabout is going in,” Pool said. “This is a really big project going all the way through the county up into Marion County so it will take a while.”
Steve Pool handles all the street duties for the Town of New Palestine and said the town has been given a tentative time frame of Monday, April 17 though September to October for the local work to be completed.
“I had a walkthrough with INDOT officials last week, and they do plan to start that curb work Monday,” Steve Pool said. “There will not be road closures here but there will be orange barrels, and they will move drivers from lane-to-lane so people need to be ready for delays and drive carefully.”
Cramer noted any lane or road constrictions for New Palestine would come during non-rush hour times.
While the work through Hancock County should only take six to seven months, the time frame is subject to change with weather conditions, utility relocation and other factors. The project as a whole is expected to last into and possibly through 2024.
“Please keep in mind that these are INDOT projects and not our projects, so we don’t have any control over them,” Steve Pool said.
To find out more about the project along U.S. 52 residents can call (855) 463-6848. Commuters may want to allow for extra time this spring and summer but the end result will be improvements to the infrastructure used by all, officials say.
