Mike Wolanin | The Republic Motorists pass over the Lowell Road Bridge in Columbus, Ind., Friday, March 15, 2019.
Bartholomew County will begin a road striping program this spring, with 22 sections of county roads scheduled for improvement.
The project represents a total of 35.65 miles to receive new pavement markings.
On Columbus’ far west side, the most noticeable improvements in road striping will run from behind the Westhill Shopping Center along County Road 325W north to Lowell Bridge, and then along Lowell Road north to the Columbus city limits.
This is the same route that was widened and improved for use as a bypass while the new overpass at the junction of State Road 11 and State Road 46 was under construction.
Just east of town, long-awaited road striping will be placed along East 25th Street, from Talley Road to State Road 9. Several residents have expressed concern that lane markings on a section of what was once a former state highway are almost indistinguishable at night.
The striping contract was awarded to Indiana Traffic Services of Greenfield, which provided the lowest quote at $58,178. The firm has done previous work for Bartholomew County, highway Superintendent Dwight Smith said.
Other bids were submitted by two Indianapolis companies: Indiana Sign and Barricade ($68,528) and Gridlock Traffic Systems ($100,780).
As asphalt plants reopen this month, workers from Milestone Contractors will start to work on seven road projects that received a Community Crossing matching grant through the Indiana Department of Transportation late last fall. However, winter had already arrived by the time the grant money was received, so the $385,000 project wasn’t awarded until February. Those projects include:
County Road 450S, from State Road 11 to County Road 50W
County Road 400S, from State Road 11 to the Columbus city limits
Deaver Road, from State Road 11 to just west of Bethel Street
County Road 50W, from Deaver Road to the Columbus city limits
County Road 1050E, from County Road 100N to County Road 200N
Baker Hollow Road, from County Road 675W to Wolf Drive
County Road 750N, from the Hope town limits to County Road 900E
Either late this month or in April, Smith will drive over 700 miles of rural Bartholomew County Roads to see which areas received the worst damage during the freezing and thawing over the winter. They will become part of either Phase One or Phase Two of the 2022 overlay project, county officials said.
