IN US 31 Kokomo Bypass Upgrade Report

[monty]

It appears that the new Kokomo route will be open after noon tomorrow with the ribbon cutting being bumped to 12:00 noon.     Crews are doing a lot of cleaning up from the tornado and construction in preparation.  Nice write-up in today's Indy Star about progress on US 31 from Indy to South Bend.  Northern segment to be completed by this time next year.  Hamilton County segment and Tipton interchange to open by late 2015.

[ysuindy]

Here is a link to the Indy Star article

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2013/11/24/kokomo-us-31-bypass-should-cut-commutes/3694809/

I did not know the existing bypass was originally a two lane bypass.

First traffic lights were installed in 1976.

I will be leaving Indy around 3;00 p.m. Tuesday heading to South Bend.  Looking forward to driving the new bypass on the way up.  t will be my 7th round trip to South Bend since the start of October.  With 3 more before mid-January.

[monty]

The ribbon has been cut. About to take a drive on the new US 31 around Kokomo. Speed limit is 65. News helicopters and vans are in abundance.

[silverback1065]

just drove it, great road.  they still have a lot of signs to place though

[theline]

Here's the story from WSBT-TV in South Bend: http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/new-31-bypass-opens/-/21046398/23167122/-/l654rv/-/index.html

The text is almost a transcript of what the reporter said on-air. The exception is hilarious. The line that reads

When it's all done, two years from now, the state says it should take about 30 minutes off your drive from South Bend to Indy.

was read as

When it's all done, two years from now, the state says it should take about 30 minutes from South Bend to Indy.

If you average about 300 MPH, that is. 

[mukade]

Northbound at CR 100S/E. Boulevard


Northbound at Touby Pike


Northbound at SR 26


Southbound at SR 931 north terminus

[ysuindy]

Just got home awhile ago from my round trip to South Bend.

Went through Northbound around 4:00 p.m.  Saw an unmarked police car pulling over a motorist heading southbound while our northbound group of vehicles was moving in the high 70's.  Of course the new road threw my navigation  system for a loop.  When we reconnected with the old road at the north end, my ETA in South Bend was 8 minutes earlier.

Came through around 9:00 p.m. southbound.  It was interesting to look to the West and see the various lights from Kokomo.

Nice to avoid the stoplights in Kokomo.  Definitely a more relaxing drive.  Overall the route was boring as all heck - just cutting through a bunch of now barren farmland.

Stopped at the truck stop on 31 just north of 24 while I was headed north.  It was packed.   I realized that this was just the second fast food type place  north of Westfield.  It seems to me there is an opportunity for someone who puts in a fast food facility somewhere in between.

[NWI_Irish96]

With Pence talking about converting the rest of 31 to limited-access, I wouldn't think very many businesses are going to build on 31.

[vtk]

With Pence talking about converting the rest of 31 to limited-access, I wouldn't think very many businesses are going to build on 31.

They could always build on the crossroads at interchanges (subject to local zoning boards, but they usually don't try hard to stop food/gas/lodging from popping up).

[mobilene]

Looking forward to driving this tomorrow as I head north from Indianapolis to my hometown of South Bend for the holiday.

[roadman65]

I honestly think that we as a people should accept the fact that all the businesses needed are on the old road and when needing a specific service just STAY ON IT!  It should be this a freeway bypass should be a bypass and nothing other!  If you are hungry, sleepy, or need gas, then use the local road.

I know this is not going to happen as sooner or later hotels and fast food, along with newer strip malls will appear at the US 31 freeway interchanges.  The only thing they fixed that was learned from building the 1952 bypass that eventually failedwas that signals cannot be added to this here bypass because of the freeway ruling.  Unlike before where developers later built along the uncharted land around the bypass of then, that caused this first through route to become urbanized, at least the signals will not be placed that is part of the interruption of flow of US 31 over the years.

However, the laws that temporarily will stop building of the interchange areas will someday be forgotten just as our government forgot what rising fuel prices did in the 70's where we took measures to protect ourselves then and for years to come.  However we all know that these measures were broken later on because of the short memories, it will happen in 10 or 15 years here.

[tdindy88]

Traveled the new highway today and saw a couple of observations that hadn't been noticed yet. First, I traveled on what is now SR 22 west from the new bypass to the old US 31 and saw all the US 31 & 35 signage was still there with no SR 931 signs at all. Another one involved the local chamber of commerce in Kokomo. I collect maps from the different chambers across the state (since it is hard to obtain a good county map otherwise) and found out that the Kokomo Chamber already has a new map with the new bypass marked on it. It is a VERY new map. Of note, SR 931 isn't mentioned on the map with the bypass only refered to as Reed Road. Not much love for 931 so far it seems.

[mukade]

Some notes on the new US 31 bypass:
- No enhanced reference markers exist on the freeway. The old ones from current SR 931 were yanked up and are sitting where the new highway signs were stored.
- The two signs destroyed in the recent tornado are laying on the ground at the same location where these reference markers are
- No services signs exist (either symbols or logos)
- There are no signs displaying the names of the streets going over/under the highway
- There is no lighting at all - even at SR 22/US 35 and the two SR 931 interchanges
- The bridges over the two rivers are named in honor of two people, but the names of the waterways are not posted (Wildcat Creek and Kokomo Creek)
- I didn't see any mileage signs
- Some, but very few SR 931 markers are up on the original bypass
- Toward the south end are two cameras - I am not sure what they are for

I thought I read only 30% of the traffic would be expected to move to the new road (i.e. 70% was local traffic). It is difficult to judge on a holiday weekend, but it looks like it is more than that.

As for services along the new road, if Kokomo won't allow them, the demand will drive them to be built in adjoining counties. Visibility from the road drives business, and people want convenience. Most businesses on SR 931 are very inconvenient to thru US 31 travelers. Only a few are marginally convenient (mainly, those on SR 22).

The new highway also showed up on Google Maps tonight. Almost all exit ramps are missing, it is not (mostly) in the yellow-orange color denoting freeways, and the northern interchange is marked incorrectly. It looks like SR 931 would be a left exit, but it is not. The small section of new US 35 just east of SR 931 is still missing. The new connector road from CR 400N to CR 50E is not shown and CR 450N is shown as connecting to SR 931, but that is actually a dead-end now. That used to be a four lane road.

The most amazing mistake is that they removed the new route of Touby Pike over US 31 a few days ago after showing it correctly for months. This road was opened a year ago, but now it incorrectly shows the way it was in 2012 and before. I have given up on MapMaker as they routinely deny accurate changes.

[NWI_Irish96]

It was dark when I went through last night, but man was it nice to have 15 fewer stoplights.  Was doing 80 and got lucky that the cop picked one of the others also doing 80 to pull over.

[roadman65]

Boy another thing I am missing!  This year has been a tough one for me financially so I have no extra to spend on road trips, but cannot wait to get back on track as this and I-49 in LA and MO are the first on my list of roads to clinch.

[mgk920]

Just got home awhile ago from my round trip to South Bend.

[snippage]

Nice to avoid the stoplights in Kokomo.  Definitely a more relaxing drive.  Overall the route was boring as all heck - just cutting through a bunch of now barren farmland.

Stopped at the truck stop on 31 just north of 24 while I was headed north.  It was packed.   I realized that this was just the second fast food type place  north of Westfield.  It seems to me there is an opportunity for someone who puts in a fast food facility somewhere in between.

Didn't the City of Kokomo annex a boatload of land between their existing urbanized area and the new US 31 freeway within the past couple of years just for that purpose (facilitate and control the expected development along the new bypass)?



Mike

[mukade]

Boy another thing I am missing!  This year has been a tough one for me financially so I have no extra to spend on road trips, but cannot wait to get back on track as this and I-49 in LA and MO are the first on my list of roads to clinch.

You could hit a lot of new roads if you came up: the I-69 projects especially if you haven't been on that road, the three US 31 projects in Hamilton County, Kokomo, and South Bend, SR 25 Hoosier Heartland, and others. Some are open now, some will open in 2014, and some are under construction. Probably over 200 miles of new freeway or expressway to see in total if you include openings from 2012 to 2015.

[mukade]

Just got home awhile ago from my round trip to South Bend.

[snippage]

Nice to avoid the stoplights in Kokomo.  Definitely a more relaxing drive.  Overall the route was boring as all heck - just cutting through a bunch of now barren farmland.

Stopped at the truck stop on 31 just north of 24 while I was headed north.  It was packed.   I realized that this was just the second fast food type place  north of Westfield.  It seems to me there is an opportunity for someone who puts in a fast food facility somewhere in between.

Didn't the City of Kokomo annex a boatload of land between their existing urbanized area and the new US 31 freeway within the past couple of years just for that purpose (facilitate and control the expected development along the new bypass)?



Mike

It was more to protect existing businesses and control growth (secondarily). Smart planning is good, but ignoring the law of supply and demand is foolish. If the plan is to make sure a huge truck stop or lead smelter is not built in prime real estate, for example, I am for it, but if they want to see no services for travelers, that would be bad. We'll see if any projects get approved by the city in the next year.

I think Bloomington, Illinois has a similar situation: an older bypass with a lot of businesses that was subsequently bypassed by a freeway.

The highway is only a mile  away from large stores like Meijer (on SR 22) so it is not as desolate as it looks. Within 1.5 miles are gas stations and restaurants as well. Without any signing for services, people unfamiliar with the area would never know.

[roadman65]

The SR 22 and SR 931 intersection is loaded with fast food, Target, Walmart, Sams, and gas.  Like you said it is not that far.  Signs would be needed at both SR 22 and 931 at both ends.  If the DOT would facilitate a way to inform motorists that all services are on SR 931 approaching the bypass at either end it would be fine.

Also TO US 31 shields should be placed at the SR 22/931 intersection as well as the other roads which will let through travelers know that the US 31 bypass can be accessed at regular intervals.

[theline]

Some notes on the new US 31 bypass:
- No enhanced reference markers exist on the freeway. The old ones from current SR 931 were yanked up and are sitting where the new highway signs were stored.
- The two signs destroyed in the recent tornado are laying on the ground at the same location where these reference markers are
- No services signs exist (either symbols or logos)
- There are no signs displaying the names of the streets going over/under the highway
- There is no lighting at all - even at SR 22/US 35 and the two SR 931 interchanges
- The bridges over the two rivers are named in honor of two people, but the names of the waterways are not posted (Wildcat Creek and Kokomo Creek)
- I didn't see any mileage signs
- Some, but very few SR 931 markers are up on the original bypass
- Toward the south end are two cameras - I am not sure what they are for

I thought I read only 30% of the traffic would be expected to move to the new road (i.e. 70% was local traffic). It is difficult to judge on a holiday weekend, but it looks like it is more than that.

As for services along the new road, if Kokomo won't allow them, the demand will drive them to be built in adjoining counties. Visibility from the road drives business, and people want convenience. Most businesses on SR 931 are very inconvenient to thru US 31 travelers. Only a few are marginally convenient (mainly, those on SR 22).

The new highway also showed up on Google Maps tonight. Almost all exit ramps are missing, it is not (mostly) in the yellow-orange color denoting freeways, and the northern interchange is marked incorrectly. It looks like SR 931 would be a left exit, but it is not. The small section of new US 35 just east of SR 931 is still missing. The new connector road from CR 400N to CR 50E is not shown and CR 450N is shown as connecting to SR 931, but that is actually a dead-end now. That used to be a four lane road.

The most amazing mistake is that they removed the new route of Touby Pike over US 31 a few days ago after showing it correctly for months. This road was opened a year ago, but now it incorrectly shows the way it was in 2012 and before. I have given up on MapMaker as they routinely deny accurate changes.

I'm wondering if this opening is being handled like the I-69 opening last fall, opening the road when there is just enough built to make the road viable and revisiting the project next construction season to finish up. Though I've not been on I-69 yet, I recall some reporting that some of the details, like missing signs and lighting of the Washington exit, are being tidied up later.

My daughter was on the new 31 bypass after dark on opening day and she bemoaned the lack of lighting. We can hope that will be addressed.

[silverback1065]

Some notes on the new US 31 bypass:
- No enhanced reference markers exist on the freeway. The old ones from current SR 931 were yanked up and are sitting where the new highway signs were stored.
- The two signs destroyed in the recent tornado are laying on the ground at the same location where these reference markers are
- No services signs exist (either symbols or logos)
- There are no signs displaying the names of the streets going over/under the highway
- There is no lighting at all - even at SR 22/US 35 and the two SR 931 interchanges
- The bridges over the two rivers are named in honor of two people, but the names of the waterways are not posted (Wildcat Creek and Kokomo Creek)
- I didn't see any mileage signs
- Some, but very few SR 931 markers are up on the original bypass
- Toward the south end are two cameras - I am not sure what they are for

I thought I read only 30% of the traffic would be expected to move to the new road (i.e. 70% was local traffic). It is difficult to judge on a holiday weekend, but it looks like it is more than that.

As for services along the new road, if Kokomo won't allow them, the demand will drive them to be built in adjoining counties. Visibility from the road drives business, and people want convenience. Most businesses on SR 931 are very inconvenient to thru US 31 travelers. Only a few are marginally convenient (mainly, those on SR 22).

The new highway also showed up on Google Maps tonight. Almost all exit ramps are missing, it is not (mostly) in the yellow-orange color denoting freeways, and the northern interchange is marked incorrectly. It looks like SR 931 would be a left exit, but it is not. The small section of new US 35 just east of SR 931 is still missing. The new connector road from CR 400N to CR 50E is not shown and CR 450N is shown as connecting to SR 931, but that is actually a dead-end now. That used to be a four lane road.

The most amazing mistake is that they removed the new route of Touby Pike over US 31 a few days ago after showing it correctly for months. This road was opened a year ago, but now it incorrectly shows the way it was in 2012 and before. I have given up on MapMaker as they routinely deny accurate changes.

I'm wondering if this opening is being handled like the I-69 opening last fall, opening the road when there is just enough built to make the road viable and revisiting the project next construction season to finish up. Though I've not been on I-69 yet, I recall some reporting that some of the details, like missing signs and lighting of the Washington exit, are being tidied up later.

My daughter was on the new 31 bypass after dark on opening day and she bemoaned the lack of lighting. We can hope that will be addressed.

I think that's what will happen, SR 25 has the same problems

[roadman65]

Boy another thing I am missing!  This year has been a tough one for me financially so I have no extra to spend on road trips, but cannot wait to get back on track as this and I-49 in LA and MO are the first on my list of roads to clinch.

You could hit a lot of new roads if you came up: the I-69 projects especially if you haven't been on that road, the three US 31 projects in Hamilton County, Kokomo, and South Bend, SR 25 Hoosier Heartland, and others. Some are open now, some will open in 2014, and some are under construction. Probably over 200 miles of new freeway or expressway to see in total if you include openings from 2012 to 2015.

Yeah, thanks for the info.  I did not think of that.  I totally forgot the I-69 projects!  Maybe it is a blessing if I wait till next year as I can cover all of these in one shot.

I could do a drive from Florida up I-75 to Chatannooga, and west on I-24 through Nashville into Kentucky.  Then I could travel the US 41 corridor (and its toll roads nearby) to reach I-69 (as I never been in that part of KY and SW IN either) then up to Indy.  I could make Kokomo my lodging stop for night two.  This way I have a base to operate out of and cover more Howard County roads including clinching both directions of US 31 old and new!

Thanks, I think I will wait now for sure.

[monty]

I believe there are plans for more signage directing the new freeway travelers to services and destinations of interest in Kokomo. There have been a bunch of sign bases installed along 931.

[tdindy88]

At least SR 25 has mileage signs, all that seems to be missing is county line and overpasses. As for the enhanced mile markers, that part isn't concerning to me, Kokomo isn't a large metropolitan area. Indy, NW Indiana, Fort Wayne and Evansville utilizes that style of mile marker but they are the big metros of the state. It always struck me as curious about their usage on the old US 31 in Kokomo. If we use them there, why not I-65 around Lafayette, I-70 and US 41 in Terre Haute, US 20/31 in South Bend or SR 37 in Bloomington?

One further observation from the highway, I noticed that the US 31 overpass over the railroad to the north of the US 35/SR 22 exit had fencing along the edges. I've seen plenty of these bridges over highways in the past, but never on the highway over a railroad. Any reason as to why?

[mukade]

I agree that Kokomo does not need these enhanced mile markers more than other these other larger cities, but two points: 1) it had them before on the old US 31, and does not have them on the new highway and 2) they are in all the metro areas you listed, but they are also used in Clarksville, New Albany, and Jeffersonville, BTW. I believe the I-69 ones go well beyond Indy to at least Anderson. On I-65, I think they go up to Lebanon. On the ITR, the INDOT ones go from Elkhart to the Illinois line, I believe. Off-topic, but the new ones put up by the ITR have a green background instead of the standard INDOT blue. The new US 24 Fort to Port in Ohio has them extending to Napoleon. Anyway, they aren't limited to big metro areas. The idea behind these signs is allow the motorist to pinpoint their location if they have trouble so I would suggest liberal use of these.

To make clear for those who not have seen the new US 31 freeway, it does have the standard INDOT green .5 mile markers used on all freeways.