Indiana Notes

[US 41]

If Indiana can't take care of their roads then maybe they should stop building new ones.

[NWI_Irish96]

If Indiana can't take care of their roads then maybe they should stop building new ones.

Except that I'd rather INDOT focus their efforts building and taking care of nice new stretches of I-69 and US 31 rather than maintaining what are essentially a bunch of city streets.

[NWI_Irish96]

From INDOT's Facebook page:

KOKOMO, Ind. — The Indiana Department of Transportation and Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight have reached a tentative agreement to transfer 5.8 miles of State Road 22 to the city in exchange for cash and federal funding totaling more than $4 million.

"State Road 22 travels through the heart of Kokomo,"  said Mayor Goodnight. "We believe this transfer is good for both INDOT and the City."

Pending contract approval, the City of Kokomo - City Hall would take over responsibility for State Road 22 where it follows Sycamore Street, Washington Street and Markland Avenue between the west city limits and the new U.S. 31 freeway. As compensation, the city would receive $1 million in cash and just over $3 million in federal funds over the next three years to use for transportation improvements.

"This agreement allows the city to develop the road to community standards and fund transportation improvements across the city,"  said INDOT District Deputy Commissioner Brandye Hendrickson.

This announcement follows ongoing meetings and discussions between INDOT and local officials, State Reps. Mike Karickhoff and Heath VanNatter, and State Sen. James Buck.

INDOT remains fully committed to continuing support of Kokomo and Howard County. During the past seven years, INDOT has invested an average of $53 million per year on highway improvements in Howard County. Transportation taxes collected in the county is approximately $13 million annually.

[billtm]

From INDOT's Facebook page:

KOKOMO, Ind. — The Indiana Department of Transportation and Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight have reached a tentative agreement to transfer 5.8 miles of State Road 22 to the city in exchange for cash and federal funding totaling more than $4 million.

"State Road 22 travels through the heart of Kokomo,"  said Mayor Goodnight. "We believe this transfer is good for both INDOT and the City."

Pending contract approval, the City of Kokomo - City Hall would take over responsibility for State Road 22 where it follows Sycamore Street, Washington Street and Markland Avenue between the west city limits and the new U.S. 31 freeway. As compensation, the city would receive $1 million in cash and just over $3 million in federal funds over the next three years to use for transportation improvements.

"This agreement allows the city to develop the road to community standards and fund transportation improvements across the city,"  said INDOT District Deputy Commissioner Brandye Hendrickson.

This announcement follows ongoing meetings and discussions between INDOT and local officials, State Reps. Mike Karickhoff and Heath VanNatter, and State Sen. James Buck.

INDOT remains fully committed to continuing support of Kokomo and Howard County. During the past seven years, INDOT has invested an average of $53 million per year on highway improvements in Howard County. Transportation taxes collected in the county is approximately $13 million annually.

And it begins again...

[tdindy88]

INDOT is giving parts of SR 56 in Madison back to the city as well.

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=176357&information_id=202992&type=&syndicate=syndicate

Hopefully they just reroute 56 around the city via US 421 and SR 62 to avoid a Lafayette scenario. As for SR 22, anyone else just think we should kill that highway as it is. Give the remaining several miles from the Kokomo city limits to SR 29 to Howard County and give the short stretch of non-multiplexed highway from I-69 to SR 5 in Grant County some short three-digit number, or give it back to that county, and make the rest of the highway solely US 35.

[billtm]

INDOT is giving parts of SR 56 in Madison back to the city as well.

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=176357&information_id=202992&type=&syndicate=syndicate

Hopefully they just reroute 56 around the city via US 421 and SR 62 to avoid a Lafayette scenario. As for SR 22, anyone else just think we should kill that highway as it is. Give the remaining several miles from the Kokomo city limits to SR 29 to Howard County and give the short stretch of non-multiplexed highway from I-69 to SR 5 in Grant County some short three-digit number, or give it back to that county, and make the rest of the highway solely US 35.

INDOT is going crazy on decommissioning its state routes. It may save money, but the discontinuity of routes I am afraid is going to confuse drivers. As for SR 22 I support decommissioning it west of 931.

[silverback1065]

INDOT is giving parts of SR 56 in Madison back to the city as well.

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=176357&information_id=202992&type=&syndicate=syndicate

Hopefully they just reroute 56 around the city via US 421 and SR 62 to avoid a Lafayette scenario. As for SR 22, anyone else just think we should kill that highway as it is. Give the remaining several miles from the Kokomo city limits to SR 29 to Howard County and give the short stretch of non-multiplexed highway from I-69 to SR 5 in Grant County some short three-digit number, or give it back to that county, and make the rest of the highway solely US 35.

What about SR 7? and SR 22 is useless, why can't INDOT reroute its highways in ways that make sense?  Starting and stopping them is stupid, if you can't decommission an entire route, don't do it in pieces, it's confusing, who is in charge of this?!

[mukade]

INDOT is giving parts of SR 56 in Madison back to the city as well.

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=176357&information_id=202992&type=&syndicate=syndicate

Hopefully they just reroute 56 around the city via US 421 and SR 62 to avoid a Lafayette scenario. As for SR 22, anyone else just think we should kill that highway as it is. Give the remaining several miles from the Kokomo city limits to SR 29 to Howard County and give the short stretch of non-multiplexed highway from I-69 to SR 5 in Grant County some short three-digit number, or give it back to that county, and make the rest of the highway solely US 35.

INDOT is going crazy on decommissioning its state routes. It may save money, but the discontinuity of routes I am afraid is going to confuse drivers. As for SR 22 I support decommissioning it west of 931.

On the contrary. The parts of between cities (such as the route from Burlington to Kokomo) are not the target - the targets are the miles of roads in built up areas. The problems with INDOT's strategy are that you either get some strangely discontinuous routes and/or state roads that just abruptly end at an arbitrary boundary.

If such roads as SR 22 west of Kokomo were to be targeted I'd start with ones with very low volumes of traffic (like SR 26 west of Lafayette). Still, the idea is that we need decent routes in rural areas where state maintenance is the only guarantee of that.

As for decommisioning SR 22 in favor of US 35, why not the opposite? US 35 as a route in Indiana makes no sense whatsoever. Dump US 35 and call it SR 35 north of Kokomo and SR 34 from Richmond to Muncie. All other parts are multiplexed.

[billtm]

INDOT is giving parts of SR 56 in Madison back to the city as well.

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=176357&information_id=202992&type=&syndicate=syndicate

Hopefully they just reroute 56 around the city via US 421 and SR 62 to avoid a Lafayette scenario. As for SR 22, anyone else just think we should kill that highway as it is. Give the remaining several miles from the Kokomo city limits to SR 29 to Howard County and give the short stretch of non-multiplexed highway from I-69 to SR 5 in Grant County some short three-digit number, or give it back to that county, and make the rest of the highway solely US 35.

INDOT is going crazy on decommissioning its state routes. It may save money, but the discontinuity of routes I am afraid is going to confuse drivers. As for SR 22 I support decommissioning it west of 931.

On the contrary. The parts of between cities (such as the route from Burlington to Kokomo) are not the target - the targets are the miles of roads in built up areas. The problems with INDOT's strategy are that you either get some strangely discontinuous routes and/or state roads that just abruptly end at an arbitrary boundary.

If such roads as SR 22 west of Kokomo were to be targeted I'd start with ones with very low volumes of traffic (like SR 26 west of Lafayette). Still, the idea is that we need decent routes in rural areas where state maintenance is the only guarantee of that.

As for decommisioning SR 22 in favor of US 35, why not the opposite? US 35 as a route in Indiana makes no sense whatsoever. Dump US 35 and call it SR 35 north of Kokomo and SR 34 from Richmond to Muncie. All other parts are multiplexed.

I totally agree, INDOT is creating a bunch of gaps in routes through cities that should be continuous. A prime example of that is Lafayette with US 52 being routed awkwardly, and state routes 26 and 25 being split.

[tdindy88]

INDOT is giving parts of SR 56 in Madison back to the city as well.

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=176357&information_id=202992&type=&syndicate=syndicate

Hopefully they just reroute 56 around the city via US 421 and SR 62 to avoid a Lafayette scenario. As for SR 22, anyone else just think we should kill that highway as it is. Give the remaining several miles from the Kokomo city limits to SR 29 to Howard County and give the short stretch of non-multiplexed highway from I-69 to SR 5 in Grant County some short three-digit number, or give it back to that county, and make the rest of the highway solely US 35.

What about SR 7? and SR 22 is useless, why can't INDOT reroute its highways in ways that make sense?  Starting and stopping them is stupid, if you can't decommission an entire route, don't do it in pieces, it's confusing, who is in charge of this?!

I assume SR 7 will be truncated to SR 62 north of Madison. Might as well, I wasn't even sure if that part of SR 7 was still a state highway and thought that it might have been decommissioned already, but apparently it isn't.

While in places like Kokomo and Madison getting rid of the highway but keeping the street name probably doesn't hurt much on confussion other than a lack of highway shield. In Avon on the other hand, there are still street signs that say SR 267 all over the place and right now I am not even sure what the name of the road is. They are coming up with a name right now (too bad Reagan's already taken to the east, knowing Hendricks County.) It's easy for Brownsburg to say Brown Street but harder when finding out what road my friend lives off of in Avon.

And then there's the former SR 334 off of I-65, which is Whitestown Parkway, even if the actual town of Whitestown (city limits do stretch to the former SR 334) is a few miles to the north. Most of my life, this was the highway that connected I-65 with Zionsville, so of course Whitestown Parkway it is. It does become Oak Street once you cross into Zionsville limits however. And finally, I'm still trying to get used to Campus Parkway and Southeastern Parkway outside of Fishers and Noblesville....ugh, why can't it just be 146th Street out to I-69. Okay, end rant.

[ctrabs74]

I know I keep bringing up the Toll Road, and I apologize. However, it looks like that's where most of the action is in my area.

On top of everything I mentioned previously, extensive rehabilitation will begin as early as next week at the Salt Creek bridges, located between the Portage Toll Barrier and Indiana 149. During construction, a reversible lane system will be implemented, where rush-hour traffic will have two lanes while off-peak traffic will have only one lane open throughout the zone. Expect this to last throughout the summer.

Good news: the bridge rehab on I-94 east of the Toll Road exchange (over U.S. 20) is in its final phase. Next week, the outer portion of the westbound bridge will be worked on, and this project may see midsummer completion.

It's about time they're finally starting to work on the Toll Road. That has to be one of the roughest stretches of road that I don't think has been rebuilt in decades. It's especially uncomfortable when you're riding as a passenger on a Greyhound bus (as I did last weekend).

[NWI_Irish96]

I totally agree, INDOT is creating a bunch of gaps in routes through cities that should be continuous. A prime example of that is Lafayette with US 52 being routed awkwardly, and state routes 26 and 25 being split.

I am perfectly fine with INDOT turning over control of urban routes to cities.  Anything that gives INDOT more resources to get I-65 six-laned faster.

How to deal with the signing and numbering of highways once this happens seems to have no perfect solutions.  One thing that Clark county did was to re-sign the decommissioned state highways as 'County Highways' of the same number.  So IN 111, 160, 311 and 403 are now CR 111, 160, 311 and 403.  They even made signs that look exactly like state highway signs except that the top of the sign reads 'County Highway' in place of 'INDIANA'.  This way everybody can still call the roads by their numbers.

[billtm]

I totally agree, INDOT is creating a bunch of gaps in routes through cities that should be continuous. A prime example of that is Lafayette with US 52 being routed awkwardly, and state routes 26 and 25 being split.

I am perfectly fine with INDOT turning over control of urban routes to cities.  Anything that gives INDOT more resources to get I-65 six-laned faster.

How to deal with the signing and numbering of highways once this happens seems to have no perfect solutions.  One thing that Clark county did was to re-sign the decommissioned state highways as 'County Highways' of the same number.  So IN 111, 160, 311 and 403 are now CR 111, 160, 311 and 403.  They even made signs that look exactly like state highway signs except that the top of the sign reads 'County Highway' in place of 'INDIANA'.  This way everybody can still call the roads by their numbers.

That's really clever! But instead of 'County Highway' I would've put 'CLARK' in the top line.
Does anyone have any pics?

[mukade]

The idea is good, but the signs are done very poorly.

[billtm]

The idea is good, but the signs are done very poorly.

Ahh! My eyes!!!

[silverback1065]

Has construction began on the new us 41 Lloyd expressway interchange began?

[Avalanchez71]

Someone should advise said county that the MUCTD already has an approved county highway shield.

[tdindy88]

For whatever reason Indiana just doesn't do the pentagon for county highways. Anyways, the county highway shields look similar to what I've seen in Ohio, so maybe that's what's up.

[mukade]

For whatever reason Indiana just doesn't do the pentagon for county highways. Anyways, the county highway shields look similar to what I've seen in Ohio, so maybe that's what's up.

In rare cases you see them - I have seen one each in Johnson and Montgomery counties and the ITR had a pentagon at the Elkhart CR 17 exit.

[jnewkirk77]

Has construction began on the new us 41 Lloyd expressway interchange began?

They've been clearing the necessary land, so I think it is underway.

[silverback1065]

Now it's time for Bloomington and Monroe County to get in on the decommissioning action!

http://wishtv.com/2014/05/30/state-looks-to-give-up-some-bloomington-area-roads/

May be time to say goodbye to SR 446, SR 48 (don't worry two stretches of that highway will remain elsewhere ) and SR 45. No word on how Greene, Brown and Lawrence Counties will react to their stretches.

Any idea why sr 446 is signed east west?

[tdindy88]

It's an even-numbered highway. It's completely stupid (and this is coming from someone who's driven that highway plenty of times) but for Indiana state highway, odd numbers are N-S, even numbers are E-W, though there may be an exception somewhere to that.

[andy]

It's an even-numbered highway. It's completely stupid (and this is coming from someone who's driven that highway plenty of times) but for Indiana state highway, odd numbers are N-S, even numbers are E-W, though there may be an exception somewhere to that.

As a three digit road, it is a child of 46 and does not follow the even/odd rule.
But, I thought an even leading digit indicated a loop or returning child. This should have been 146, 346, 546, or whatever.

[monty]

Today's Kokomo Tribune states that the city of Kokomo will take control of IN 22 all the way east to the new US 31.  This resolves the feud between the city and INDOT of the proposed INDOT installation of "tuff curbs" along Markland Ave / IN 22 on both sides of IN 931. The mayor states that they may remove some traffic signals on the street, a practice that has been successfull throughout the city the last few years.

[billtm]

It's an even-numbered highway. It's completely stupid (and this is coming from someone who's driven that highway plenty of times) but for Indiana state highway, odd numbers are N-S, even numbers are E-W, though there may be an exception somewhere to that.

As a three digit road, it is a child of 46 and does not follow the even/odd rule.
But, I thought an even leading digit indicated a loop or returning child. This should have been 146, 346, 546, or whatever.

IIRC, the loop/spur rule doesn't apply for 3-digit Indiana state routes. I think the rule is: The higher the first digit, the less of a priority the route is.