A Look At Upcoming Road Projects

March 5, 2019 at 5:49 p.m.

By Joe Thallemer-

The beginning of spring training is a sure sign that we may be looking at winter in our rear-view mirror! I know I’m being a little optimistic, but I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t welcome an early spring after the wild winter we have endured.

As I typically do this time of year, I’d like to provide an early preview of the road projects that are scheduled for this spring and summer.

Maintaining and improving over 100 miles of city streets is a constant, never ending task. Even greater is the challenge of funding those improvements. Local, state and federal dollars are leveraged to fund everything from crack filling to complete reconstruction.

Preliminary work on Market Street from Bronson to Hickory Streets has already begun. Within the next few weeks, road restrictions will begin. We will have a meeting for all of the affected Market Street residents and businesses at City Hall on March 7 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the project and answer questions. This is an 80-20 federally funded road project that was approved three years ago. It will be an extension of the first phase that was completed from Argonne Road to Bronson a few years ago. When completed this fall, it will be wonderful improvement for the East Market Street neighborhood!

We are also in the process of updating our road condition ratings as required by INDOT. This will ensure that substandard roads are prioritized and will guide future maintenance work. Chances are you will be very close to some of the 41 miles of micro sealing, crack filling and rejuvenator maintenance that will occur this summer. In addition, just under six miles of city streets will be resurfaced.

Those roads being resurfaced include East Fort Wayne from Lake Street to Detroit Street, West Center Street from Lake Street to the intersection of West Market, Provident Drive, and North Point Drive.

The Kosciusko County Highway Department is slated to replace the bridge on Husky Trail just north of the recently completed reconstruction project. The plan is to begin sometime in June when school lets out and be completed by early August.

The Indiana Department of Transportation has informed the city that they will be constructing additional traffic lanes on both sides of Parker Street at U.S. 30 and the north side of Anchorage Road at U.S. 30. The purpose of the INDOT project is to improve the local traffic flow as it crosses or enters U.S. 30.

At our request, INDOT will not start that construction until after the Husky Trail bridge project is complete. I’m sure it will create significant aggravation during the construction but their engineers have been working hard to help us find solutions to the congestion at those two intersections.

One other INDOT project that has been delayed into 2019 is the railroad crossing safety improvements along the north/south rail line. Those were first approved in 2013! Redesigned to include all crossing from Pope to Lyon with better connectivity and all new crossing gates, the project should be completed by November.

I know that traffic closings and restrictions are inconvenient. We will do everything we can to alert you when dates firm up on these projects.  Please use our city website (www.warsaw.in.gov) and Facebook page for those up to the minute details.

The beginning of spring training is a sure sign that we may be looking at winter in our rear-view mirror! I know I’m being a little optimistic, but I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t welcome an early spring after the wild winter we have endured.

As I typically do this time of year, I’d like to provide an early preview of the road projects that are scheduled for this spring and summer.

Maintaining and improving over 100 miles of city streets is a constant, never ending task. Even greater is the challenge of funding those improvements. Local, state and federal dollars are leveraged to fund everything from crack filling to complete reconstruction.

Preliminary work on Market Street from Bronson to Hickory Streets has already begun. Within the next few weeks, road restrictions will begin. We will have a meeting for all of the affected Market Street residents and businesses at City Hall on March 7 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the project and answer questions. This is an 80-20 federally funded road project that was approved three years ago. It will be an extension of the first phase that was completed from Argonne Road to Bronson a few years ago. When completed this fall, it will be wonderful improvement for the East Market Street neighborhood!

We are also in the process of updating our road condition ratings as required by INDOT. This will ensure that substandard roads are prioritized and will guide future maintenance work. Chances are you will be very close to some of the 41 miles of micro sealing, crack filling and rejuvenator maintenance that will occur this summer. In addition, just under six miles of city streets will be resurfaced.

Those roads being resurfaced include East Fort Wayne from Lake Street to Detroit Street, West Center Street from Lake Street to the intersection of West Market, Provident Drive, and North Point Drive.

The Kosciusko County Highway Department is slated to replace the bridge on Husky Trail just north of the recently completed reconstruction project. The plan is to begin sometime in June when school lets out and be completed by early August.

The Indiana Department of Transportation has informed the city that they will be constructing additional traffic lanes on both sides of Parker Street at U.S. 30 and the north side of Anchorage Road at U.S. 30. The purpose of the INDOT project is to improve the local traffic flow as it crosses or enters U.S. 30.

At our request, INDOT will not start that construction until after the Husky Trail bridge project is complete. I’m sure it will create significant aggravation during the construction but their engineers have been working hard to help us find solutions to the congestion at those two intersections.

One other INDOT project that has been delayed into 2019 is the railroad crossing safety improvements along the north/south rail line. Those were first approved in 2013! Redesigned to include all crossing from Pope to Lyon with better connectivity and all new crossing gates, the project should be completed by November.

I know that traffic closings and restrictions are inconvenient. We will do everything we can to alert you when dates firm up on these projects.  Please use our city website (www.warsaw.in.gov) and Facebook page for those up to the minute details.
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