NORTH VERNON — There were audible groans during the North Vernon City Council Meeting when City Engineer Brad Bender announced Buckeye Street will be closed from around June 24 until possibly mid-September.
The closure is needed to allow for road improvements and the construction of storm sewers.
Buckeye Street will be closed from Seventh to 11th streets, and all side-street connections within that area of Buckeye also will be closed.
All businesses and residences within the closed section will remain accessible, Bender said at Monday’s meeting.
For outside traffic heading into North Vernon, message boards will state, “No thru traffic on Buckeye Street, use US 50 Bypass.” The message boards will be placed at the East Roundabout and also at the downtown intersection of Walnut Street and and State Roads 3 and 7.
Bender suggested local traffic should use Fifth Street, O & M Avenue, Greensburg Street and Vernon Street as alternate routes.
“Believe me, a whole lot of people spent a whole lot of time trying to figure another way of doing this, but there just isn’t another way to get the job done right,” Bender said, as he explained why Buckeye Street will be closed to repair the street and sewers.
Bender also said that while the closure of Buckeye Street should last only until September, work along Buckeye Street is expected to continue through November.
The work will be performed by Milestone Contractors.
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"A whole lot of people spent a whole lot of time trying to figure another way of doing this, but there just isn’t another way to get the job done right."
— City Engineer Brad Bender
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