A decision whether or not to add more guardrails to the new railroad overpass on Columbus’ west side is up to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
During Tuesday’s Columbus Board of Works meeting, Dave Hayward, executive director of public works/city engineer, said local residents have been asking him about guardrails on the overpass ramps on a daily basis.
However, since the overpass is an INDOT project, adding guardrails would be their decision, he said.
“The guardrail that’s there now is what’s required, and the general policy of INDOT is ‘Don’t put a guardrail in that’s not necessary,’” Hayward said. “Because if you hit a guardrail, that’s going to do some damage. If you go over that slope, you should be able to stay upright and stop your car before you hit anything. So you’re not likely to do nearly as much damage going over the edge as if you hit a guardrail.”
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Board of works members did approve five change orders for the overpass project on Tuesday. Hayward said that the total cost of change orders is still below 5% of the project’s original cost.
“We’re very much on target cost-wise,” he said.
The $35 million overpass was celebrated in an official ribbon cutting ceremony last week, though there is still some work to be done. Hayward said that the city will seek landscaping bids in January, with planting hopefully taking place in the spring and possibly also the fall (if certain species need to be planted during that season).
“We’re kind of leaving the fall planting as an option, but we’d love to get everything planted in the spring,” he said.
Milestone Contractors was the INDOT contractor on the overpass project.
The overpass project was jointly funded by the Indiana Department of Transportation, city of Columbus, Bartholomew County, Cummins Inc. and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX railroads.
The project was developed in response to a projected increase in railroad traffic on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad tracks. INDOT agreed to pick up half of the total cost, while the city, along with other partners, picked up the half of the tab.
The city has partnered with Cummins, Bartholomew County and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX Railroads to defray around half of the local funding requirements in the interlocal agreement, city officials said.
The railroad has leased its tracks running through Columbus to CSX, which is expected to result in an increase in train traffic, train speed and delays at intersections involving rail crossings through the city, with the State Road 46/State Road 11 intersection expected to have the most delayed local traffic.
