Preliminary planning work tied to a $30 million railroad overpass project at the State Road 46/State Road 11 intersection is underway.
The city, the Indiana Department of Transportation, Strand Associates and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., a land architectural firm based in New York, are reviewing right-of-way boundaries for the project, said John Dorenbusch, a member of the Columbus Redevelopment Commission.
“There will be a lot of people looking at it over the next couple of weeks,” said Dave Hayward, executive director of public works/city engineer.
The $30 million overpass is being constructed to deal with a projected increase in train traffic through Columbus. The state has agreed to pick up $15 million of the cost, while other partners have chipped in to cover the remaining $15 million — including the city of Columbus, Bartholomew County, Cummins Inc., and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX railroads.
Land-acquisition meetings also are occurring, while INDOT is expected to establish right-of-way and appraisals on properties in the next few months, Hayward said. Plans are being shared with four property owners in the area: Gary Nienaber, the Columbus Park Foundation, Rick Chaille and Webco West, Hayward said.
INDOT is expected to make offers on the right-of-way acquisitions, which involve about 40 acres, sometime in the middle of August, Hayward said. From that point, utility relocations will also be required for the project.
The timeline for the railroad overpass project still remains on schedule with initial construction work expected to begin in 2019, Hayward said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”What’s next ” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The Indiana Department of Transportation hope to establish right-of-way and appraisals on properties in the next few months. Once the state agency is able to secure the right-of-way acquisitions, it hopes to make offers sometime in the middle of August, said Dave Hayward, executive director of public works/city engineer.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
