The Indiana Dept. of Transportation is on schedule to open all U.S. Highway 31 lanes at the State Road 38 interchange in Hamilton County by the end of this week.
Plans call for placing northbound traffic on newly constructed U.S. 31 travel lanes that bridge over S.R. 38 during daytime hours Thursday. Meanwhile, southbound U.S. 31 will remain in single-lane configuration to allow crews to make pavement repairs.
On Friday, INDOT hopes to restore traffic to both southbound lanes. Turns at S.R. 38 will be allowed.
“All we need is one good day for pavement striping,” says INDOT project engineer Andy Nahrwold.
“…One dry day with temperatures above freezing and we’ll be ready to open northbound lanes.”
U.S. 31 has been restricted to single-lane traffic in each direction on the west side of the roadway since May 12—allowing Milestone, the state’s contractor, to move massive amounts of dirt, construct lanes and ramps, and complete the northbound bridge spanning S.R. 38. A new southbound bridge and travel lanes will be constructed in 2012.
The $19.6 million Major Moves freeway-style interchange is designed as a “folded” diamond to avoid impacting nearby MacGregor Park in the northeast quadrant. In addition to twin bridges over S.R. 38, the project is constructing three-sided box structures at Lindley Ditch and Isaac Jones Ditch as well as U.S. 31 mainline.