The roundabout on Husky Trail opens up July 28, with phase II of that street project beginning that morning.

The drop-dead date to finish phase I was Aug. 14 because that’s when the Warsaw school year begins. Mayor Joe Thallemer said had it not been for the large amount of rainfall last week, phase I could have been done even earlier.

Monday afternoon, the city held a meeting for Husky Trail businesses and neighborhoods to update them on the project and the traffic patterns for the second phase. The roundabout is Warsaw’s third, compared to the city of Carmel which just celebrated its 100th.

Thallemer said, “We’ve been working very hard and been very fortunate that the weather’s been good for us and we feel like we’re progressing ahead of schedule. So we want to talk about going to phase II of the project today and turning around all the detour area. We think we’ve got a pretty good handle on when we’re going to be able to do that, and barring any monsoons between now and next week, we’re probably looking at later next week of getting that turned around.”

City Planner Jeremy Skinner said in phase I, the street lights have gone up and the asphalt is down, but there is still some concrete work still to be done as part of phase I, but rather than delaying the project while waiting for all the concrete work to be finished, the intent is to open up the roundabout and move on to phase II.

“Basically, the idea here is, the roundabout will be opened up. It will still be barricaded north of the roundabout,” Skinner said. Local traffic only like Orange Door, Debra Collier’s School of Dance, the church and the Bowen Center will have their access switch to the roundabout and come through Parker Street, Husky Trail and through the roundabout and go north. “It will be a closed barrier at North Pointe (Drive) so you will not be able to get through at North Pointe. That will be the hard barrier, much like the hard barrier now is at Mariners Drive. The hard barrier will flip and be at North Pointe.”

Skinner said the city and the contractor, Phend & Brown, would like to close Glad Street so that will be a hard barrier. Residents along Glad Street will go through the roundabout to Mariners Drive and back onto Husky Trail – the same access Harrison Elementary has. The school’s access will also be to the roundabout, Mariners Drive and back to Flora Avenue. All the businesses along Mariner Drive will come through the roundabout and go toward Mariners Drive – so the YMCA and Parkview Hospital also will be accessed through the roundabout.

“The only people who will not have access through the roundabout are those that are in phase II,” Skinner said. “So all the residential development … in phase II will continue to use the same detour that they’re using now. They will go north, and the reason for that is, from North Pointe to just 50 feet shy of White Tail Run, that entire road is going to be torn out and reconstructed. … So, everybody in phase II will continue to use the same detour. They’ll come in and out north just past Canterbury Apartments. It will be split barricaded there, but will be open to local traffic. Once again, North Pointe Drive at Husky Trail will be completely barricaded off, there will be no access through there.”

Skinner said the intent is to flip the construction phases on July 28. “Basically, on July 28, all the businesses on Mariners Drive and the businesses between North Pointe and the … apartment complex and then the subdivision on Glad Street will have access through the roundabout come the 28th, that Friday, is when we plan to switch everything over. Assuming that the weather holds out.”

He said the only thing left to do on phase I is put a final top coat down on the roundabout, while at the same time trying to get the decorative lights along Husky Trail operational by the 28th.

The detour for anyone coming from the north will still take U.S. 30 back up through the roundabout. “So if you’re going to the hospital or the YMCA coming from the north, you’ll still take the U.S. 30 detour,” Skinner said.

Thallemer reported the Post Office has agreed to put the mailboxes on the appropriate side of Husky Trail now that the road is being widened. Skinner said because this is an Indiana Department of Transportation project, those who live in phase II along Husky Trail will have their old mailboxes removed and laid in their yard for the residents to take. New INDOT-approved mailboxes will be installed, but after the construction project is completed and INDOT signs off on it, residents can replace them with whatever mailbox they want. “I do ask you to be a little patient with that,” Skinner said.

For phase I, Thallemer said the city had requested INDOT alter some of the crossing times on U.S. 30 to allow more traffic to cross because there was such backup there at East CR 200N. There will be adjustments made to the light and possibly down at Parker Street, but not necessarily right away, he said. During phase II, if there are issues with the traffic signals, Skinner said to let the city know because it will work with INDOT to fix those as best as they can.

Thallemer said signage will be changed from phase I to phase II and can be tailored as the project progresses.

Warsaw Police Department Capt. Kip Shuter, chairman of the Traffic Commission, said, “Please, please, please make sure you abide by the detour signs. Everybody knows the comments and the information we had to put out there when we started phase I. But over and over and over, we had to remind people make sure you follow the detour. We had people cutting around barricades, people driving around yards. Just a lot of issues that didn’t need to be. Those barricades were there for a reason.”

Shuter also presented a couple of videos on driving roundabouts, which will be posted on the city’s website as well as local media websites. The websites to view those videos are at drivesafemichiana.com/roundabout/videos.html and www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNirOSEdoUs

In discussing the sidewalks that are being put in along Husky Trail where there are none now, Skinner said the sidewalks are the real safety improvement out there.

The project end date has not changed and is scheduled for Oct. 20, but Thallemer said everyone would love for that to be sooner.