Indiana Notes

[Avalanchez71]

the 1-laned county roads?

Is this serious?  I would prefer a road that is safe for on road vehicle travel.

[FixThe74Sign]

the 1-laned county roads?

Is this serious?  I would prefer a road that is safe for on road vehicle travel.

Then that would be a road that has enough capacity to allow a constant speed of travel. Not one constantly bottled up with trucks.

Also, does anyone know what working is being done on I-74 near Shelbyville? Are they finally, FINALLY going to properly redo those awful concrete sections?

[sprjus4]

Agreed. Having a limited access highway that is only 4 lanes wide and carrying high truck volume creates a speed differential between cars and trucks that significantly decreases safety. Having a third lane allows those speed differentials to be split, restricts trucks to a certain portion of the roadway, and increases safety overall as well as decreasing travel times and improving reliability. These basic, proven concepts have not seemed to sit with some people though.

[Avalanchez71]

Agreed. Having a limited access highway that is only 4 lanes wide and carrying high truck volume creates a speed differential between cars and trucks that significantly decreases safety. Having a third lane allows those speed differentials to be split, restricts trucks to a certain portion of the roadway, and increases safety overall as well as decreasing travel times and improving reliability. These basic, proven concepts have not seemed to sit with some people though.

The third lane encourages a large speed differential which is a recipe for disaster.

[sprjus4]

Agreed. Having a limited access highway that is only 4 lanes wide and carrying high truck volume creates a speed differential between cars and trucks that significantly decreases safety. Having a third lane allows those speed differentials to be split, restricts trucks to a certain portion of the roadway, and increases safety overall as well as decreasing travel times and improving reliability. These basic, proven concepts have not seemed to sit with some people though.

The third lane encourages a large speed differential which is a recipe for disaster.

I'd love to see evidence that a six lane rural interstate highway is more dangerous than a four lane interstate highway.

Hate to break it to you buddy, but the speed differential is happening no matter what. It's the conflict point when cars come upon trucks. With no passing route for a truck in the left lane, that causes the vehicles to have to drastically reduce speed in some instances, which in heavier traffic can cause overreaction, which is heavy enough, enough breaking can lead into a small rolling backup. It can also cause rear-end collisions if there is an inattentive driver, or coming over a hill upon a slow passing vehicle in the left lane, etc. With six lanes, there's an escape route and most of the time an unobstructed lane for cars to safely pass trucks in both right lanes passing each other, and with trucks prohibited from the left lane altogether, except in the few instances where that's ignored, that major speed differential doesn't exist.

[NWI_Irish96]

Hey everybody, instead of continuing to feed the troll, how about we all add him to our ignore lists?

[bmeiser]

Didn't know that was a thing, thanks! Hopefully this thread gets back on track.

[Avalanchez71]

Agreed. Having a limited access highway that is only 4 lanes wide and carrying high truck volume creates a speed differential between cars and trucks that significantly decreases safety. Having a third lane allows those speed differentials to be split, restricts trucks to a certain portion of the roadway, and increases safety overall as well as decreasing travel times and improving reliability. These basic, proven concepts have not seemed to sit with some people though.

The third lane encourages a large speed differential which is a recipe for disaster.

I'd love to see evidence that a six lane rural interstate highway is more dangerous than a four lane interstate highway.

Hate to break it to you buddy, but the speed differential is happening no matter what. It's the conflict point when cars come upon trucks. With no passing route for a truck in the left lane, that causes the vehicles to have to drastically reduce speed in some instances, which in heavier traffic can cause overreaction, which is heavy enough, enough breaking can lead into a small rolling backup. It can also cause rear-end collisions if there is an inattentive driver, or coming over a hill upon a slow passing vehicle in the left lane, etc. With six lanes, there's an escape route and most of the time an unobstructed lane for cars to safely pass trucks in both right lanes passing each other, and with trucks prohibited from the left lane altogether, except in the few instances where that's ignored, that major speed differential doesn't exist.

Sure unitl you come up to the point were a self appointed lane cop decides to drive the speed limit. 

[Avalanchez71]

Are there any more US 41 Business signs still posted out in the field?  I remember seeing less and less over the years.

[Life in Paradise]

Are there any more US 41 Business signs still posted out in the field?  I remember seeing less and less over the years.

Just saw one this week in Evansville, and almost took a photo of it.  It is on northbound Fares Ave just north of Morgan Ave.  If I get out again, I'll capture it.

Or I can just post the following, and the sign still looks like this:

https://earth.google.com/web/search/North+Fares+Avenue+%26+East+Columbia+Street,+Evansville,+IN/@37.993115,-87.5427651,119.51863098a,0d,60y,353.92453748h,87.21316667t,0r/data=CigiJgokCYjZ5nbqVkNAEewRiGWdVkNAGQlgg7jJ4VXAIfvA-lkz4lXAIhoKFmJfTkVlZG1EWWtNblBGM2g2ZjNHZFEQAg

[Avalanchez71]

Did US 41 ever serve downtown Evansville?

[westerninterloper]

Are there any more US 41 Business signs still posted out in the field?  I remember seeing less and less over the years.

Google Maps marks North 6th Street in Vincennes as US41BUS, and there looks to be a relatively new sign posted on that street.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.685349,-87.5132523,3a,75y,77.81h,73.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUDFRhPMuKGsWLGwGQR7y7w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

US41BUS through Terre Haute, 7th Street and Lafayette, was unsigned years ago. Not sure about Evansville.

[Avalanchez71]

Per the AASHTO documents it looks like US 41 Business was officially designated on the old alignment on US 41 through Boswell.  I see no US 41 Business signs in Boswell.

[evvroads]

Did US 41 ever serve downtown Evansville?

Not directly. The old alignment of US 41 deviated west from its present alignment at Pigeon Creek. It followed Fares Ave south through the point where Fares turns into Canal St (running SW) just north of the present-day Lloyd Expy/US 41 interchange. It ran along Canal St for a couple of blocks until that curved south onto Kentucky Ave. It ran directly south on Kentucky Ave until it rejoined its present alignment south of I-69/Veterans Memorial Pkwy.

[evvroads]

Are there any more US 41 Business signs still posted out in the field?  I remember seeing less and less over the years.

Just saw one this week in Evansville, and almost took a photo of it.  It is on northbound Fares Ave just north of Morgan Ave.  If I get out again, I'll capture it.

Or I can just post the following, and the sign still looks like this:

https://earth.google.com/web/search/North+Fares+Avenue+%26+East+Columbia+Street,+Evansville,+IN/@37.993115,-87.5427651,119.51863098a,0d,60y,353.92453748h,87.21316667t,0r/data=CigiJgokCYjZ5nbqVkNAEewRiGWdVkNAGQlgg7jJ4VXAIfvA-lkz4lXAIhoKFmJfTkVlZG1EWWtNblBGM2g2ZjNHZFEQAg

Also may be interesting to note (not sure how common knowledge it is)... Evansville City GIS labels Fares Ave between Maxwell Ave and just north of Diamond Ave as "Old Business 41" in addition to Fares Ave. When police and fire get dispatched to addresses along that stretch, the address given is 2000 Old Business 41 instead of 2000 N Fares Ave (like Google Maps has labeled).

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://www.wane.com/traffic/construction-of-reduced-conflict-intersection-begins-july-6-on-us-30/

Starting on or after July 6, the intersection at S CR 500 E on US 30 will be converted into a Reduced-Conflict Intersection (RCI) with construction to last through early August (weather-depending).

[silverback1065]

https://www.wane.com/traffic/construction-of-reduced-conflict-intersection-begins-july-6-on-us-30/

Starting on or after July 6, the intersection at S CR 500 E on US 30 will be converted into a Reduced-Conflict Intersection (RCI) with construction to last through early August (weather-depending).

Does anyone other than INDOT call these things RCI's? Everyone else calls them J-turns! 

[SkyPesos]

https://www.wane.com/traffic/construction-of-reduced-conflict-intersection-begins-july-6-on-us-30/

Starting on or after July 6, the intersection at S CR 500 E on US 30 will be converted into a Reduced-Conflict Intersection (RCI) with construction to last through early August (weather-depending).

Does anyone other than INDOT call these things RCI's? Everyone else calls them J-turns! 

I hear them called "Superstreets" the most often.

[triplemultiplex]

I swear I've seen that term thrown around by WisDOT.

[I-55]

https://www.wane.com/traffic/construction-of-reduced-conflict-intersection-begins-july-6-on-us-30/

Starting on or after July 6, the intersection at S CR 500 E on US 30 will be converted into a Reduced-Conflict Intersection (RCI) with construction to last through early August (weather-depending).

Does anyone other than INDOT call these things RCI's? Everyone else calls them J-turns! 

I hear them called "Superstreets" the most often.

The "superstreet" is probably used more in Ohio than in Indiana because J turns in OH (and MI for that matter) often occur on busy streets in urban areas, sometimes with traffic lights (notably the OH-4 bypass of Hamilton). Indiana only uses them on rural 4 lanes without traffic lights.

[US 41]

Are there any more US 41 Business signs still posted out in the field?  I remember seeing less and less over the years.

We have this one in North Terre Haute on Lafayette Ave that just says US 41. Before they renovated the intersection just north of it, it had a business sign above it, as you can see in older street view images.

https://goo.gl/maps/3wgNXAsEXL2G5YLR6

[US 41]

https://www.wane.com/traffic/construction-of-reduced-conflict-intersection-begins-july-6-on-us-30/

Starting on or after July 6, the intersection at S CR 500 E on US 30 will be converted into a Reduced-Conflict Intersection (RCI) with construction to last through early August (weather-depending).

Does anyone other than INDOT call these things RCI's? Everyone else calls them J-turns! 

I call them a Mexican U-turn aka "retorno".

[nwi_navigator_1181]

Indiana 149 in Porter County will undergo construction throughout the entire stretch from US 12 to Indiana 130, starting next week. Full resurfacing will take place with frequent traffic flagging, which is planned to conclude in November. This includes bridge work over I-94 which is currently in progress, as well as a closure of the CSX railroad crossing just south of US 20, which is scheduled for next week. The intersection at Lenburg Road has been completed, which now includes a left turn lane and a flashing yellow arrow signal.

Crews have recently worked on ground studies for future work on a new bridge to the Port of Indiana in Burns Harbor. The bridge will be built alongside the current bridge, which will likely serve outgoing traffic, while the new span will serve incoming traffic. Bridge building work is set to begin next spring.

INDOT and Purdue University are currently conducting a study to test electric car charging lanes. While it's a long way off from construction, a test pavement area at an undisclosed location will be constructed for viability. Once objectives are satisfied, they will determine which interstate(s) will have those charging lanes. Again, this is far from finalized, but is a concept worth looking into once details are more concrete.

The following is for one of the busier local streets in Portage, but I thought I'd pass this along since this road is important for those connecting from anywhere between US 12 and the Indiana Toll Road. On top of the road work currently in progress on Indiana 249, the Willowcreek Bypass (the raised stretch of road between US 20 and the Toll Road) will undergo major road work. From July 12 to Halloween, the two bridges over the CSX railroads will be rebuilt and resurfaced. Next year, the same stretch will be resurfaced, including a small stretch between the Toll Road entrance and the Toll Road overpass.

I'm going to try and grab pictures of the current US 12/20 realignment project currently being done in Gary/Miller so I can post them here in the next few weeks. Lots of progress being made with an aggressive September completion time. What I can tell you that the former stretch of US 12 between the now-former split and Clay Street will be converted to a grassy field, and the new split has been carved out.

[Great Lakes Roads]

In my hometown of La Porte, INDOT is working on replacing the '60s-'70s traffic signals with the new "INDOT" standard traffic signals within the city limits.

The following intersections that have received the wired spans are as followed: Monroe (SR 4) at Jefferson, Lincolnway at Jackson, Lincolnway at Clay, Lincolnway at Monroe (SR 4), Lincolnway at Michigan, and Lincolnway at Madison.
The other intersections that are not listed above have received the metal poles, and those are Lincolnway at Tyler, J at 1st, and J at 5th.
The remaining intersections that haven't been upgraded yet are Lincolnway at Indiana (US 35), Indiana at Jefferson, Indiana at Maple, and Indiana at Osborn.

Also, repaving SR 2 through town is almost complete with Lincolnway being fully paved on the driving lanes and J Street being paved on one lane of traffic. ADA ramps are also being improved with almost all of them being completed.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

In a collaboration between IDOT and INDOT, a study will soon be underway to find methods of improving traffic flow along I-80/94 from Illinois 394 to I-65. The "FlexRoad Project"  is designed to find ways to alleviate congestion and reduce crashes along the oft-busy stretch. Potential plans being explored include hard shoulder running (opening up the shoulders to traffic during peak traffic hours), ramp metering (traffic signals along ramp entrances, designed to keep traffic in queue), variable speed limit signage, and additional VMS signage to warn drivers of congestion (similar to the system now used on the Jane Addams Tollway between O'Hare and Elgin). Public meetings will be held for further input on this upcoming project. For more information, head to www.indianaflexroad.com.

Along with the US 12/20 realignment project currently in progress, US 20 sees additional road work just a bit further east. Between Lake/Porter County Line Road and Clem Road in Portage, only one lane gets by in each direction, with multiple shifts. Two bridges are being refurbished in the area, with completion send for mid-fall.

Also in Porter County, I-94 will see bridge overlay work between Indiana 249 and US 20 (Burns Harbor). Only two lanes get by in each direction, which will cause delays during peak times. Plan accordingly, since most of the alternate routes (like US 20 - see above) are also facing construction projects. If you're willing to spend money, the Toll Road is a viable route.