Road work signs will be going up along East 25th Street as early as this week notifying motorists of upcoming lane closures.
The five miles of milling and new asphalt on East 25th Street, between Talley Road and State Road 9, is the largest single project of this year’s 16.6 miles of rural overlay projects, county highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
Milestone Contractors will begin work on upgrading the concrete bridge on East 25th Street over Clifty Creek, Hollander said. Bids on the project are scheduled to be opened on June 26, but the work will likely not begin until sometime in July.
Crews are currently awaiting a shipment of a rapid penetration emulsion (RPE), Hollander said. The coating is used to make asphalt more water resistant within a short period of time while maintaining texture.
In addition, Hollander said the contractor is also waiting for a sufficient supply of temporary and permanent striping material.
But the street millers will be given a couple of days head start before paving crews begin putting down a new blacktop, the county highway engineer said.
For the past few weeks, county road crews have been removing the berm on either side of East 25th Street. The raised shoulder designed to create a barrier between the road and private property will be replaced after the new asphalt has sufficient hardened, Hollander said.
While East 25th Street will not be completely closed, Milestone will have flaggers guiding two-way traffic through one open lane at construction sites. While this will cause delays for those making morning or evening commutes, motorists will be able to chose alternate routes such as County Roads 450N and 600N. Both run between Marr Road and State Road 9.
The milling and overlay work should take about two weeks to complete, Hollander said.
In order to help finance all overlay projects, the county has received a $1 million matching grant through the Community Crossings program administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
The county is matching that amount on a 50-50 basis, as well as paying for overage costs. This year’s overlay project has an estimated price tag of $2.24 million.
The bridge work, which will include strengthening sections more than a century old, is intended to be a temporary fix to extend the life of the bridge by another 10 years, Hollander said. County officials are hopeful they will be able to obtain federal dollars during that span of time to replace it, he said.
Concerns have been raised about the possibility of motorists using County Road 50N as a detour after schools reopen in early August. A number of county officials say they want to avoid large volumes of traffic driving by Clifty Creek Elementary School while students are back in school.
