IN SR 25 Upgrade Report

[mukade]

SR 25 is being upgraded to an expressway from Logansport to Lafayette for a distance of approximately 32 miles. Although portions are parallel to the existing SR 25 roadway, the project consists of all new terrain road. This project extends the new and existing US 24 divided highway from Fort Wayne and Toledo to Logansport. The portion from Delphi to Lafayette is furthest along, but two other sections east (or north) of Delphi that bypass towns are also under construction. I believe by the end of 2011 or early 2012, the entire project will be under contract.


Southbound SR 25 approaching Clymers

On Kokomo Pike (CR 900N) near the Tippecanoe-Carroll County line west of Delphi

Looking northbound from CR900E overpass in eastern Tippecanoe County

Looking southbound from CR 625E overpass in eastern Tippecanoe County

[tdindy88]

Just a curious question, I think I've seen it on the project maps or not, but is US 421 going to have an interchange with the new highway and are there other interchanges planned, since I see overpasses in some of those pictures. I understand that this is going to be an expressway similar to US 24 east of Logansport, am I correct in this assumption?

[NE2]

http://www.in.gov/indot/div/projects/sr25study/pubs/SR25AerialFull.pdf
Looks like a diamond at US 421.

[mukade]

There also will be an interchange in Logansport.

Seven Intersections:
Existing SR 25 via connectors at each end
CR 500E, CR 450N, CR 750E, CR 900E, CR 700N

SR 25 Overpasses:
CR 900N, Norfolk Southern, County Line Road

Grade Separations:
CR 300N, CR 500E, CR 625E, CR 900E, CR 100E

[RoadWarrior56]

I was involved on this project between 1999 and 2001.  My firm did the environmental study and concept design and location on the entire corridor.  I did much of the original conceptual design on the corridor, working in our Indiana office.  There were numerous alternative alignments that were considered, BTW.  Even though it took this many years to get this far, it is great to finally see it built.  I live in Atlanta, so I don't get back to this part of Indiana very often, even though I am a Purdue grad.

[mukade]

I was involved on this project between 1999 and 2001.  My firm did the environmental study and concept design and location on the entire corridor.  I did much of the original conceptual design on the corridor, working in our Indiana office.  There were numerous alternative alignments that were considered, BTW.  Even though it took this many years to get this far, it is great to finally see it built.  I live in Atlanta, so I don't get back to this part of Indiana very often, even though I am a Purdue grad.

Nice job.

This route also has several what I think are called "one-quadrant interchanges". Is that the right term? There is a description of them at http://www.expresswaysite.com/missouri.htm. I assume the reason for the large number of overpasses and these minor interchanges is because the highway parallels a busy railway track for almost the whole way.

[RoadWarrior56]

Southwest of Delphi, SR 25 closely follows the RR track because that is what Tippecanoe County wanted.  The purpose was to minimize the acquisition of prime farmland, and being so close to the railroad forced many of the grade separations.

[triplemultiplex]

This route also has several what I think are called "one-quadrant interchanges". Is that the right term? There is a description of them at http://www.expresswaysite.com/missouri.htm. I assume the reason for the large number of overpasses and these minor interchanges is because the highway parallels a busy railway track for almost the whole way.

Oh, like a jughandle interchange?

[mukade]

This route also has several what I think are called "one-quadrant interchanges". Is that the right term? There is a description of them at http://www.expresswaysite.com/missouri.htm. I assume the reason for the large number of overpasses and these minor interchanges is because the highway parallels a busy railway track for almost the whole way.

Oh, like a jughandle interchange?

I thought jughandles were one way ramps at at-grade intersections, but I don't know for sure. These are two way ramps at grade-separated ones. The issue is that the highway parallels a railroad track so having intersections would be dangerous.

[RoadWarrior56]

I am not sure what the final design ended up being, since I only worked on the concept phase.  However, based on the photos and the discussion here, it appears the overall concept didn't change very much in the last 10 years.  I actually drew up so-called single-quadrant interchanges back in 2000 on this project. You are right, the single quadrant interchanges were used to provide intersections with the roadways that crossed the railroad track.  If the new roadway were located further from the railroad, they would not had been necessary.

The parallel railroad is high speed and has lots of rail traffic on it.  I do remember that.  One nice by-product of having SR 25 so close to the railroad tracks is that the County got several new railroad grade separations for important county roads as part of this project.

[mukade]

I am not sure what the final design ended up being, since I only worked on the concept phase.  However, based on the photos and the discussion here, it appears the overall concept didn't change very much in the last 10 years.  I actually drew up so-called single-quadrant interchanges back in 2000 on this project. You are right, the single quadrant interchanges were used to provide intersections with the roadways that crossed the railroad track.  If the new roadway were located further from the railroad, they would not had been necessary.

The parallel railroad is high speed and has lots of rail traffic on it.  I do remember that.  One nice by-product of having SR 25 so close to the railroad tracks is that the County got several new railroad grade separations for important county roads as part of this project.

For SR 25, these interchanges are a safe, affordable, and effective solution. In Indiana, my only disappointment is where US 24 and Bruick Rd east of Fort Wayne is getting one of these single quadrant interchanges. If it wasn't for that interchange, the Indiana portion of Fort to Port would be a freeway except for the pre-existing I-469 interchange itself (which will presumably be upgraded in a few years).

[Stephane Dumas]

Did INDOT studied other possibilities like adding some "diamond slip ramp" at these quadrant interchanges like for example the interchange of TCH-20 with PQ-171 at Bernières (now amalgated to Levis)? There a CN railroad who's parralel to TCH-20 from Laurier-Station to St-Redempteur.
http://maps.google.com/?ll=46.677416,-71.349635&spn=0.01138,0.027466&t=k&z=16
http://maps.google.com/?ll=46.675693,-71.347125&spn=0.011381,0.027466&t=k&z=16&layer=c&cbll=46.6758,-71.349477&panoid=84aywa5dPoYkBAmBXwn8mA&cbp=12,79.02,,0,-2.81

[mukade]

More sections of SR 25 have started construction including the part bypassing Delphi. Here is an article from the Peru Tribune entitled Completion of $213 million Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor 2 years away. Several more contracts are due to be let in the next few months. Below are some pictures taken in October, 2011.


New divided highway approaching completion in Clymers on left; old two laner on the right


Another section in beginning stages of construction near Burrows


Concrete being laid in Tippecanoe County


A couple of miles east of project terminus at I-65 in Lafayette

[RoadWarrior56]

After all the work I did on that project, glad to finally see pictures of it going into the ground.

[mukade]

One peculiar thing about the SR 25 project is that construction is well along from near I-65 in Lafayette northeast to almost Delphi, but there is no evidence of construction where it actually would tie into current SR 25 by I-65. Recently, I noticed they are considering constructing a roundabout at this point. See this INDOT online document.

I've never seen a roundabout on an expressway before. How safe would that be?

[RoadWarrior56]

If the roundabout is well designed it probably will be safe.  Needless to say, our version of the intersection was the original design shown in the INDOT document.  Nobody was doing multi-lane roundabouts in the USA 10 years ago.

There is still not too much experience with multi-laned roundabouts to date in the US.  I love single-lane roundabouts for many applications, but multi-lane roundabouts introduce more conflict points and more potential for driver confusion than the single lane versions.

However, one benefit of a roundabout design at that location is the traffic calming effect on SR 25 traffic approaching the existing I-65 interchange, which is not an expressway section. I have recently prepared an approved concept for a multi-laned roundabout in the Atlanta area not too dissimilar to the INDOT proposed change.  Time will tell on that one as well.

[Revive 755]

^ Either option doesn't look like the best; did INDOT even bother to look at an alignment with a new interchange with I-65 so a Breesewood situation could be avoided?

[RoadWarrior56]

Keep in mind that SR 25 is not an Interstate, much less a freeway.  There are numerous at-grade intersections along the relocated facility, so Breezwood does not apply.  The overpasses from the photos are due to the proximity of relocated SR 25 to the parallel railroad tracks.  There are already signalized ramps at the I-65 interchange that are not part of this project.  Even so, the operating speeds on new SR 25 will be signficantally higher than the existing facility on both sides of the roundabout.  The roundabout will force traffic to slow down approaching I-65, without needing a traffic signal.

BTW, if INDOT were going to look at a new interchange, that would had been done in 1999-2001, when we were working on the project.  It was not part of the scope of our project, and there was no money allocated for it in any case.  Redoing the interchange now would delay the project for years, as the environmental  document would have to be reopened.

[mukade]

If you look at the directions that I-65 and SR 25 travel, I am not sure what a redesigned interchange might even look like. From what I see, SR 25 (the Hoosier Heartland Highway) is designed to serve Lafayette/Purdue as its ultimate destination. Anyone going from Peru, Logansport, or Delphi to Chicago or Indy would not take SR 25 or I-65. There would be too much backtracking. If by some chance the Hoosier heartland became US 24 west of Logansport, and a bypass was built north of Lafayette, I could see an interchange redesign at I-65 might make sense.

As RoadWarrior56 noted, there are a lot of overpasses on this highway as it parallels railroad tracks the majority of the route - both on the new terrain and existing route parts. Additionally, there will be two full interchanges well away from the railroad tracks (one in Delphi, one in Logansport). This road will feel like a freeway even though it isn't one.

[tdindy88]

I would think that the new US 24 in Northwestern Ohio would be a comparable highway in the way it feels to the new SR 25. There are a few interchanges but there are also at-grade intersections with county roads, as opposed to the Indiana section which is all freeway (almost anyways.) A lack of a parallel railroad track though doesn't warrent bridges on 24, other than that I think the highways are similar.

[RoadWarrior56]

Even though there will be several overpasses along SR 25, the connections from the roads going over the railroad and SR 25 will be "single quadrant" interchanges, meaning that there will be an at-grade intersection along SR 25 associated with each overpass.  The only true interchanges along the corridor will be at the major state highways such as US 421 nearly Delphi and the northern terminus near Logansport.

[Revive 755]

Keep in mind that SR 25 is not an Interstate, much less a freeway.  There are numerous at-grade intersections along the relocated facility, so Breezwood does not apply.

Alright, Kingdom City (Missouri) type situation then.  

If you look at the directions that I-65 and SR 25 travel, I am not sure what a redesigned interchange might even look like. From what I see, SR 25 (the Hoosier Heartland Highway) is designed to serve Lafayette/Purdue as its ultimate destination. Anyone going from Peru, Logansport, or Delphi to Chicago or Indy would not take SR 25 or I-65. There would be too much backtracking. If by some chance the Hoosier heartland became US 24 west of Logansport, and a bypass was built north of Lafayette, I could see an interchange redesign at I-65 might make sense.

I was thinking of traffic somehow accessing the Hoosier Heartland via US 231 from I-74.  It appears to be about 30 miles from I-74, so I'm wondering if the gap might end up attracting some traffic using as an Indianapolis and super Chicago bypass.  Might seem unlikely, but then considering how IN 32 gets a decent amount of truck traffic that seems to be cutting from I-74 to I-65 (although this one is half the length of I-74 to the Hoosier Heartland), it's not out of the question.

[mukade]

I was thinking of traffic somehow accessing the Hoosier Heartland via US 231 from I-74.  It appears to be about 30 miles from I-74, so I'm wondering if the gap might end up attracting some traffic using as an Indianapolis and super Chicago bypass.  Might seem unlikely, but then considering how IN 32 gets a decent amount of truck traffic that seems to be cutting from I-74 to I-65 (although this one is half the length of I-74 to the Hoosier Heartland), it's not out of the question.

Agreed, it is not out of the question. They are currently building a new US 231 bypass along the west end of West Lafayette. However, for it to become a highly traveled road, there are two big issues, IMO:
1) It is a pain to get from I-65 to US 231 - SR 25, SR 26, and Sagamore Pkwy (US 52 until next year) are all slow and congested. That is why I mentioned a dream northern bypass that would connect the new SR 25 to the new US 231 western bypass
2) US 231 between Lafayette and Crawfordsville is all two lane highway and goes through the middle of two small towns

Logically, it looks like the Hoosier Heartland/Fort to Port corridors would be a logical extension to I-72, but I doubt that would ever happen.

[hbelkins]

With all these Indiana projects, someone ought to do a meet!

[mukade]

This is a photo of the new US 231 bypass as seen from SR 526 at the Purdue Airport in West Lafayette taken October, 2011.


This is on the opposite side of town as to where the new SR 25 is being built. It starts just north of the Wabash River and ends at US 52. This bypass will also  carry the US 52 designation.