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IN: US 31 South Bend to Plymouth Upgrade report

Started by mukade, November 12, 2011, 11:12:15 PM

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ysuindy

A couple of updates from trip to South Bend on Wednesday:

The 7A Road Interchange appears complete, but is not yet open.  The exit is signed as "Plymouth Veterans Parkway".  The one mile and half mile signs in each direction make it appear the exit is open, but the last sign has an orange "closed" across it and there are barrels across the exit ramps. 

This story gives the information on 7A being renamed Veterans Parkway and connecting with Michigan Road (the original 31).

Based on what I saw Wednesday, I  would suspect the exit is being held up for work elsewhere on Veterans Parkway.

Traffic was down to one lane northbound at the bridge over the Yellow River, just south of Veterans Parkway - it seems they have been working on or around this bridge for a long time.

There were no barrels or other impediments on 31 at the Johnson Road overpass, but it does not appear the overpass is open.

What I did not get a chance to do was drive any portion of old 31 to see if it is signed as any state route.


ysuindy


silverback1065


theline

I don't see Veterans Parkway either. The original name for the road was 7th Road. The old parts of the that road, east of 31 and west of Michigan Road, are shown.

mukade

Veterans Parkway and the new interchange are open. As I went through there yesterday morning, there was a lineup of cars on the road looking a lot like a ribbon-cutting ceremony was about to take place. When i came back down US 31 today, it was all open so I took Veterans Parkway from US 31 west to old US 31. The road is not straight - it has a few curves, and has nice wide shoulders. It ends at a roundabout on old 31 that is pretty close to the US 30/SR 17 interchange so it gets you to services in Plymouth efficiently.

The control cities at the interchange are Kokomo and South Bend.

theline

I drove by the new Veterans Parkway exit on Saturday. The BGSs look very odd to me, because they have a horizontal line running all the way across them, separating "Veterans Parkway" from "Plymouth." This usage looks odd, at least in Indiana, dividing the name of the road from the name of the city. This reminds of signs using horizontal lines to separate different attractions from each other. That's not the meaning here, of course.

silverback1065

Google doesn't have it, it's on OSM, whoever is a beast at Map Maker should add it, I'm not good at drawing interchanges on that site.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/41.3680/-86.2956

mukade

Quote from: silverback1065 on October 06, 2015, 06:08:14 PM
Google doesn't have it, it's on OSM, whoever is a beast at Map Maker should add it, I'm not good at drawing interchanges on that site.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/41.3680/-86.2956

The OSM map only shows a small part of the new road.

mukade

Google Map now has most of the new road, but not the US 31 interchange. I assume that will be on there soon. For some reason the new road is marked as 7th Rd. instead of Veterans Parkway, though.

theline

Quote from: tdindy88 on October 06, 2014, 08:16:54 PM

1) I did not see any SR 931 references up in St. Joseph County, of course I didn't travel that roadway either so I can't say it isn't signed at all.


Reviving this old quote to add my update about SR 931 signs. I drove the NB segment of old 31 in St. Joseph County from Pierce Road to Kern Road on Monday, and I saw no SR 931 reassurance signs. I did see an END SR 931 sign north of Roosevelt Road, presumably at the South Bend city limit. The city limit has never been marked (to my recollection) so I'm a little fuzzy on where it is.

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: theline on October 08, 2015, 03:44:12 PM
Quote from: tdindy88 on October 06, 2014, 08:16:54 PM

1) I did not see any SR 931 references up in St. Joseph County, of course I didn't travel that roadway either so I can't say it isn't signed at all.


Reviving this old quote to add my update about SR 931 signs. I drove the NB segment of old 31 in St. Joseph County from Pierce Road to Kern Road on Monday, and I saw no SR 931 reassurance signs. I did see an END SR 931 sign north of Roosevelt Road, presumably at the South Bend city limit. The city limit has never been marked (to my recollection) so I'm a little fuzzy on where it is.

The southern city limit does stretch down Old 31 to just north of Roosevelt Rd. 
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bmeiser

The interchange for Veterans Parkway (7th road, as Google calls it) is now on Google Maps.  Can somebody more familiar with the area explain the need for this interchange?  Seems redundant with the interchange for 30 being only 2 miles south and with the tie-in to Michigan road less than a mile north of the US-30 / Michigan Rd. interchange.  Is it just to take pressure off 30?  Give people coming from the north bit of a shortcut to Plymouth?  Would it really save that much time over 30?  It doesn't look like there is much north of the Veterans tie-in so you'd have to pass by 30 anyways to get to downtown Plymouth.  Seems like what Plymouth really needs a better southern entry option but I'm guessing that wasn't pursued because it wasn't within the project limits.  Again, I'm not really familiar with the area and the traffic patterns up there. It just seems a little excessive to have a brand new interchange for a road that's less than 4 miles long, most of which wasn't even there before.

theline

^^ I have no facts to back me up, but my conjecture is the that it's intended to ease Plymouth's loss of access from the north via the old, old US-31, which branched off former 31 less than a mile south of the US-6 intersection. Plymouth is a rather significant city (population over 10,000 and a county seat) and Veterans Parkway provides a direct northern access. US-30 doesn't provide direct access to the bulk of the city. Plymouth isn't even mentioned on the exit signs at off 31 at US-30.

ysuindy

Found a few media stories that indicated opening up an economic corridor - I haven't driven Veterans Parkway, but I suspect they believe they can attract some industry along the road with access to direct to 31. 

I drove up Michigan Road in early September from Plymouth - there appeared to be some light industry along Michigan Road just south of the Veterans Parkway roundabout.  It will be interesting to watch if / how things develop along that corridor.

Along that approach, I wonder if that interchange will see any commercial development - gas station, fast food, etc.   The US 6 old US 31 intersection has McDonalds, Arbys, the world's slowest Burger King, two gas stations and a produce stand. 

theline

That really seems like the Veterans Parkway exit would be a ripe spot for development that appeals to both travelers and locals. It's close enough to Plymouth that businesses can draw patrons from the city. There's now a fairly long undeveloped stretch between Michigan and Ireland in South Bend and the McDonald's in Argos. Time will tell.

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: bmeiser on October 09, 2015, 09:54:55 AM
The interchange for Veterans Parkway (7th road, as Google calls it) is now on Google Maps.  Can somebody more familiar with the area explain the need for this interchange?  Seems redundant with the interchange for 30 being only 2 miles south and with the tie-in to Michigan road less than a mile north of the US-30 / Michigan Rd. interchange.  Is it just to take pressure off 30?  Give people coming from the north bit of a shortcut to Plymouth?  Would it really save that much time over 30?  It doesn't look like there is much north of the Veterans tie-in so you'd have to pass by 30 anyways to get to downtown Plymouth.  Seems like what Plymouth really needs a better southern entry option but I'm guessing that wasn't pursued because it wasn't within the project limits.  Again, I'm not really familiar with the area and the traffic patterns up there. It just seems a little excessive to have a brand new interchange for a road that's less than 4 miles long, most of which wasn't even there before.

I grew up in this county and I can give some perspective.  First of all, for people who live in the Lake of the Woods area, 7th Rd/Ply-Gos Trail was their main access point to US 31 South.  With the removal off all access points between US 6 and US 30, this meant adding 5-10 minutes of drive time to access US 31 South without this interchange.  It's also better access to the industrial area on Michigan Rd.  Otherwise you have to down to 30 (which juts south right at 31) or access Michigan Rd from US 6. 
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tdindy88

I traveled up this way yesterday as part of a trip to hopefully include US 31 coverage for AARoads and noticed that the signage at the SR 4 exit has changed. The last time I was there the control cities were North Liberty and LaPorte with Lakeville given a supplemental sign. Now it's North Liberty and Lakeville with LaPorte given the supplemental sign. As with the Kokomo segment it seems that most of the signs along that highway have been fixed (I knew a few were gone when I was last there.)

I am still perplexed about the signing coverage along this highway as compared to the rest of US 31 and other newer projects. This segment has plenty of mileage signs and even signs at the roadway crossings. Why can't the new I-69 have that? It's an interstate for crying out loud.

monty

Quote from: tdindy88 on March 01, 2016, 10:04:56 AM
I traveled up this way yesterday as part of a trip to hopefully include US 31 coverage for AARoads and noticed that the signage at the SR 4 exit has changed. The last time I was there the control cities were North Liberty and LaPorte with Lakeville given a supplemental sign. Now it's North Liberty and Lakeville with LaPorte given the supplemental sign. As with the Kokomo segment it seems that most of the signs along that highway have been fixed (I knew a few were gone when I was last there.)

I am still perplexed about the signing coverage along this highway as compared to the rest of US 31 and other newer projects. This segment has plenty of mileage signs and even signs at the roadway crossings. Why can't the new I-69 have that? It's an interstate for crying out loud.

It has taken several years for all the Kokomo signage to get up. Perhaps I 69 is on a similar pace. For example, the blue services signage and the notice of no unmotorized vehicles on ramps were just put up last fall.
monty

ysuindy

I was up at Notre Dame today and drove the old road back to US 6 on my way home.

There was a Start 931 sign southbound (and End 931 sign northbound) at what we presume to be the South Bend city limits just north of Roosevelt.

There is a End 931 sign southbound (and Start 931 sign northbound) at the Marshall - St. Joseph County line in front of Laville High School.  I saw no other 931 signs on the drive.

I did notice the old Phillips 66 between South Bend and Lakeville has closed (it may have closed before the new road open - I can't remember).  The other business casualty I noticed was the world's worst Burger King on the southwest corner of US 6 and old 31 in LaPaz.  There may well be business closures in Lakeville and LaPaz, but I never paid that much attention to what was there as I was too busy watching my speed so as to not make acquaintance with the local constables.

Also drove the old road from Argos to Rochester to help break up the monotony of the ride...

The old road is closed south of US 6 - they are demolishing the overpass that carried Michigan Road from Plymouth (old old 31) over the stretch that originally bypassed Plymouth in the 70's (old 31). 

silverback1065

#269
Quote from: ysuindy on April 16, 2016, 08:06:55 PM
I was up at Notre Dame today and drove the old road back to US 6 on my way home.

There was a Start 931 sign southbound (and End 931 sign northbound) at what we presume to be the South Bend city limits just north of Roosevelt.

There is a End 931 sign southbound (and Start 931 sign northbound) at the Marshall - St. Joseph County line in front of Laville High School.  I saw no other 931 signs on the drive.

I did notice the old Phillips 66 between South Bend and Lakeville has closed (it may have closed before the new road open - I can't remember).  The other business casualty I noticed was the world's worst Burger King on the southwest corner of US 6 and old 31 in LaPaz.  There may well be business closures in Lakeville and LaPaz, but I never paid that much attention to what was there as I was too busy watching my speed so as to not make acquaintance with the local constables.

Also drove the old road from Argos to Rochester to help break up the monotony of the ride...

The old road is closed south of US 6 - they are demolishing the overpass that carried Michigan Road from Plymouth (old old 31) over the stretch that originally bypassed Plymouth in the 70's (old 31).

interesting, so there were no shields at the junction with SR 4? Also is the interchange with Kern Rd correct?  It looks like whoever drew it didn't finish the spui design. 

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: ysuindy on April 16, 2016, 08:06:55 PM
I was up at Notre Dame today and drove the old road back to US 6 on my way home.

There was a Start 931 sign southbound (and End 931 sign northbound) at what we presume to be the South Bend city limits just north of Roosevelt.

There is a End 931 sign southbound (and Start 931 sign northbound) at the Marshall - St. Joseph County line in front of Laville High School.  I saw no other 931 signs on the drive.

I did notice the old Phillips 66 between South Bend and Lakeville has closed (it may have closed before the new road open - I can't remember).  The other business casualty I noticed was the world's worst Burger King on the southwest corner of US 6 and old 31 in LaPaz.  There may well be business closures in Lakeville and LaPaz, but I never paid that much attention to what was there as I was too busy watching my speed so as to not make acquaintance with the local constables.

Also drove the old road from Argos to Rochester to help break up the monotony of the ride...

The old road is closed south of US 6 - they are demolishing the overpass that carried Michigan Road from Plymouth (old old 31) over the stretch that originally bypassed Plymouth in the 70's (old 31). 

Yes, the city boundary on 931 is just north of Roosevelt Rd.  I haven't driven 931 since the new 31 opened.  I need to do that next time I'm up that way.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
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Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

ysuindy

Quote from: silverback1065 on April 17, 2016, 04:10:14 PM
Quote from: ysuindy on April 16, 2016, 08:06:55 PM
I was up at Notre Dame today and drove the old road back to US 6 on my way home.

There was a Start 931 sign southbound (and End 931 sign northbound) at what we presume to be the South Bend city limits just north of Roosevelt.

There is a End 931 sign southbound (and Start 931 sign northbound) at the Marshall - St. Joseph County line in front of Laville High School.  I saw no other 931 signs on the drive.

I did notice the old Phillips 66 between South Bend and Lakeville has closed (it may have closed before the new road open - I can't remember).  The other business casualty I noticed was the world's worst Burger King on the southwest corner of US 6 and old 31 in LaPaz.  There may well be business closures in Lakeville and LaPaz, but I never paid that much attention to what was there as I was too busy watching my speed so as to not make acquaintance with the local constables.

Also drove the old road from Argos to Rochester to help break up the monotony of the ride...

The old road is closed south of US 6 - they are demolishing the overpass that carried Michigan Road from Plymouth (old old 31) over the stretch that originally bypassed Plymouth in the 70's (old 31).

interesting, so there were no shields at the junction with SR 4? Also is the interchange with Kern Rd correct?  It looks like whoever drew it didn't finish the spui design. 

I did not notice any shields at the SR 4 junction - however I did catch the light green, so I may have missed one.



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