Caution: 2 years of downtown road work ahead
Drivers will need their patience over the next two years as they negotiate road construction projects on two highways in Richmond's downtown area.
The projects will include U.S. 40 East along South A and South 11th streets and U.S. 27 South, mostly along South Eighth Street.
"It will be better when it's done," said Nathan Riggs, information director for the Indiana Department of Transportation's East Central District.
One lane of South A Street and U.S. 27 will remain open during the construction, although access to some side streets might be restricted at times.
An exception will be South 11th Street, which will be closed for 45 days between East Main and South A streets for renovation. The detour will send U.S. 40 East traffic along South A to South 16th Street. Accommodations will be made for South 11th Street businesses and residents.
INDOT will open bidding on the long-awaited projects in January. Both will be coordinated and constructed under one contract with work scheduled to begin in March 2017 and finish by the end of 2018.
The exact schedule for road segments under construction will be negotiated between INDOT and the winning bidder when the contract is awarded. There will be a meeting for members of the public and impacted businesses and residents in the spring before the project begins.
In addition to smoother roadways, the projects will include new water mains, new drainage and modernized storm sewers, new traffic signs and signals, and accessible curb ramps and sidewalks.
The U.S. 40 project will begin on South A Street east of the Lamar Lundy Bridge.
The roadway is being completely rebuilt, Riggs said, because in some areas the old brick street is just below the pavement surface. Freezing and thawing unsettles the bricks, creating the uneven surface drivers have dealt with for years, he said. There also is no drainage beneath that roadway.
Riggs said last year's strip paving was a temporary fix until the upcoming project could begin.
"We want to do it right," he said.
The U.S. 40 roadway will be built using an innovative pavement option that hasn't been used in Indiana before, Riggs said.
Precast concrete panels will be laid on a prepared grade and attached to one another to form the road surface, rather than traditional asphalt or poured-in-place concrete.
"Using this technology allowed us to minimize the impact to existing utilities and it saves utilities money," Riggs said. "I really do think this is something that will be used more and more in the future."
The panels will provide for quick repairs of roadways or utilities in the coming years, and INDOT will keep extra panels on hand if replacements are necessary, Riggs said.
"With something like this, it can be basically done overnight," he said, thus limiting interruptions in high-traffic areas such as South A Street.
The U.S. 40 project will include the intersections of southbound and northbound U.S. 27 (South Eighth and Ninth streets). It also will coincide with the city of Richmond's Stellar Communities street project along South and North 10th streets.
The U.S. 27 work will begin south of Sim Hodgin Parkway and continue to South O Street. It won't include the bridge over the Whitewater River, just south of Sim Hodgin Parkway, or the overpass above the railroad tracks in the Historic Depot District. It also won't include the recently improved intersection of South Eighth and E streets.
The only areas where northbound U.S. 27 will be affected will be between the Whitewater River Bridge and the overpass, between North B and D streets and where northbound and southbound U.S. 27 comes together in the area of the south-side Dollar General store.
One of the most noticeable aspects of the project will be eliminating the sharp right curve on U.S. 27 South in the Historic Depot District between North D and C streets.
Although the surface of U.S. 40 isn't being specified in the contract, whether U.S. 27 will be resurfaced in concrete or asphalt will depend on what the winning contractor bids, Riggs said. By offering contractors a choice, taxpayers can get the best price for the project, he said.
Learn more
The Indiana Department of Transportation has a website, in.gov/indot/3589.htm, devoted to the 2017-2018 U.S. 40 and U.S. 27 projects in Richmond.
Work continuing
The Indiana Department of Transportation's $2.7 million contract with Milestone Contractors to install new curb ramps at intersections along U.S. 40, repair pavement and resurface the highway between 11th Street and the Interstate 70 ramps on Richmond's east side began in 2016 and will conclude in 2017. The majority of the work remaining focuses on full-depth concrete and asphalt pavement patching that will be followed by resurfacing the roadway.
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