IN: US 31 South Bend to Plymouth Upgrade report

[tdindy88]

I'm updating this after looking at the some recently released specs on the signs for the new US 31 freeway from Plymouth to South Bend. I don't remember if it has been mentioned elsewhere, but there will be exit tabs at the exits for the highway. Control cities along the freeway are South Bend and Plymouth. Going north for U.S. 30, the control cities on the mileage signs are South Bend, Niles and Benton Harbor and going south are Plymouth and Kokomo, with no mention of Indianapolis except at the US 20/31 interchange. Here's a rundown of each exit and their destinations listed.

-Exit 225 A-B: US 30, Warsaw/Plymouth (nothing new except new modern signage here)
-Exit 233: US 6, Walkerton/Bremen (no mention of Lapaz at all)
-Exit 239: SR 4, North Liberty/LaPorte (with smaller signs for Potato Creek SP and Lakeville)
-Exit 245: Kern Rd.
-Exit 246 A-B: US 20, Michigan City/Elkhart (nothing new there)

Signage around the US 20/US 31 interchange looks about the same as it does now in terms of destinations, only that the US 31 signage is being updated. Also, the signage around the Kern Road interchange looks a little different from the rest of the highway, with the first letter being a bit bigger than the rest of the word. I don't know specific fonts but it's a little different from the rest.

[theline]

Took a drive yesterday on the roads crossing the new construction, and I noticed BGSs erected for the SR-4 exit. I was too far away to get a decent picture with my phone. I'll have to go back with a real camera or take a walk down the road.

[mukade]

From the April 10 letting's apparent results, it looks like Rieth Riley won the contract that ties in the new road to the old. See http://www.in.gov/dot/div/contracts/letting/archive/2013/apr03/apparent04-10-13.pdf.

Back to the sign plans, they don't show 7th Road interchange which is due to be let 10/9/2013. Presumably, that will be exit 228, but I still wonder if these numbers are correct. They seem to be consistent with the Kokomo US 31 exit numbers which don't seem to be consistent with the Hamilton County ones. The Hamiltion County exit numbers seem to reflect US 31 following I-465 while the others seem to be based on US 31 going through Indy on Meridian St.

Here are some of the actual INDOT drawings to supplement the description in a previous post:
 

 

 

[Big John]

^^ With the mis-sized lower case letters on rhe exit 245 and 246 A_B signs?

[DeaconG]

^^ With the mis-sized lower case letters on rhe exit 245 and 246 A_B signs?

Yes, that looks brutal.  Hopefully that gets corrected.

[tdindy88]

I just started to wonder about this, but once the freeway sections and signs are up, showing the new exit numbers along US 31, will they put up exit tabs at the interchanges with US 24 in Peru and SR 25 in Rochester? Any idea what exit numbers those would be?

[mukade]

I just started to wonder about this, but once the freeway sections and signs are up, showing the new exit numbers along US 31, will they put up exit tabs at the interchanges with US 24 in Peru and SR 25 in Rochester? Any idea what exit numbers those would be?

My guess is that it would be less likely at US 24 and SR 25, but somewhat more likely (eventually) on St. Joseph Valley Parkway section because there are more exits in a shorter distance.

[tdindy88]

Makes sense in the grand scheme of things, but it does open up the idea of putting exit numbers along the bypass to the east of the US 31 interchange, using I presume the mile markers along US 20.

[silverback1065]

Will old US 31 become SR 931 like in Kokomo?

[mukade]

I think current US 31 mainly goes back to the county, and a little bit to the city. A block or two north of Kern Road will be removed.

[theline]

Makes sense in the grand scheme of things, but it does open up the idea of putting exit numbers along the bypass to the east of the US 31 interchange, using I presume the mile markers along US 20.

I was driving the concurrent US 20/31 section of the SJVP recently and noticed that the mile markers for the section use mileages for US 20. There are no exit numbers. That made me wonder if the mile markers might be revised when 31 is complete. It also brings into question whether exit numbers will be applied for the section. I always felt that there should be exit numbers to help travelers find the right exit. There are several ramps marked "South Bend" with nothing to distinguish them otherwise.

[NWI_Irish96]

I think current US 31 mainly goes back to the county, and a little bit to the city. A block or two north of Kern Road will be removed.

Yes, it is all going back to local jurisdictions. 

[NWI_Irish96]

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Stretch-of-US-6-to-Close-for-New-US-31-Project-209161291.html

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ind. — The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) announces the closure of U.S. 6 between U.S. 31 and Lilac Road beginning Monday, June 3rd through early September 2013. The closure is necessary to ensure driver safety while crews work on the U.S. 31/U.S. 6 interchange for the new U.S. 31 project.

A detour will take eastbound traffic south on U.S. 31, east on U.S. 30, north on S.R. 331, and back to U.S. 6. Westbound traffic will travel south on S.R. 331, west on U.S. 30, north on U.S. 31, and back to U.S. 6.

INDOT reminds drivers to use caution and consider worker safety when driving through a construction zone. For the latest road closures and news from INDOT, like us at www.Facebook.com/INDOTNorthwest and follow us at www.Twitter.com/INDOTNorthwest.

[silverback1065]

So will this entire corridor be complete and opened by next year?

[NWI_Irish96]

So will this entire corridor be complete and opened by next year?

The latest info I've seen says that Kokomo will open Fall 2013, SB-Plymouth will open Fall 2014, and Hamilton County will open Fall 2015.

[theline]

Beams for the Fellows St. overpass over the existing St. Joseph Valley Parkway (US 20) will be erected next week. This is part of the US 31 South Bend project, to provide access for residents south of the SJVP who are losing access via US 31. Traffic will be disrupted on the SJVP, between the Ironwood and Michigan St. exits, off-and-on during the week. See here for details: http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-periodic-us-20-bypass-closures-planned-20130529,0,1119654.story

[NWI_Irish96]

Beams for the Fellows St. overpass over the existing St. Joseph Valley Parkway (US 20) will be erected next week. This is part of the US 31 South Bend project, to provide access for residents south of the SJVP who are losing access via US 31. Traffic will be disrupted on the SJVP, between the Ironwood and Michigan St. exits, off-and-on during the week. See here for details: http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-periodic-us-20-bypass-closures-planned-20130529,0,1119654.story

This is happening today.  Good day to avoid this part of US 20.

[mukade]

So will this entire corridor be complete and opened by next year?

The latest info I've seen says that Kokomo will open Fall 2013, SB-Plymouth will open Fall 2014, and Hamilton County will open Fall 2015.

It looks like the South Bend to Plymouth section will be just like the Kokomo one in that almost the entire road except the tie-ins will be done a year before opening. Even the signs are erected on the unopened highway in both Kokomo and south of South Bend. As you would expect, the opposite is the case in Hamilton County where the existing road is being upgraded rather than re-routed. As a small section is completed, it opens.

The tie-ins are coming along nicely in Kokomo and look like they will done late this year as planned. Southbound lane PCCP pavement has been laid on the north side of town.

[NWI_Irish96]

Article in the SB Tribune that basically says everything is on schedule: http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/article_2670d8ac-e8f8-11e2-8467-0019bb30f31a.html

Video of dirt being moved at Kern Rd: http://www.southbendtribune.com/multimedia/videos/video_74445b88-e8c3-11e2-974d-0019bb30f31a.html

[bmeiser]

Here's a cheesy INDOT construction safety video that was filmed on this new stretch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u71EZ3ZvYFs&sns=em

[NWI_Irish96]

Short story about construction along with a couple aerial photos.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/about/newsletters/article_6d575aa6-0663-11e3-9e46-001a4bcf6878.html

[theline]

^^ Interesting photos, but the reporter wrote inaccurate captions for both.

Photo 1: "This view looks south at a new U.S. 31 interchange between U.S. 20 and U.S. 6." U.S. 20 is nowhere near this picture. I believe this is a south-facing view of the new U.S. 31-U.S. 6 intersection, many miles south of U.S. 20.

Photo 2: "the new U.S. 31 returns to the old route near Roosevelt Road." Actually, the new road passes over the old route near Roosevelt, and does not return to the old alignment for many miles, south of U.S. 6.

[trafficsignal]

Photo 1 is a picture of the SR 4 interchange, which is indeed between US 20 & US 6 (neither of which are shown in the photo).  I'd say the reporter was overly vague, labelling general project limits instead of the actual location of the picture, but not inaccurate.

[NWI_Irish96]

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=123932&information_id=187511&type=&syndicate=syndicate

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) announces ramp and lane restrictions in addition to a single, 20 minute complete closure of U.S. 31 just south of the U.S. 20 Bypass on Thursday, September 5th. Crews will be removing the overhead signage on U.S. 31 just south of the U.S. 20 Bypass access point.

Beginning around 7 a.m. Thursday, September 5th, between Johnson Road and the U.S. 20 Bypass, the northbound right lane of U.S. 31 will close, along with two U.S. 20 Bypass ramps: the ramp from eastbound U.S. 20 to southbound U.S. 31 and the ramp from northbound U.S. 31 to eastbound U.S. 20 (map attached).

Sometime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. crews will use cranes to remove the signage over U.S. 31 in this area, forcing a complete closure of U.S. 31 for about 20 minutes, between Johnson Road and the U.S. 20 Bypass.

To avoid delays drivers are encouraged to avoid this stretch of U.S. 31 entirely on Thursday, September 5th.

[theline]

New photos of the northern end of the construction have been posted on the official site. They're rather small, but interesting.

Aerial photos: http://us31plysb.com/2013aerialsnorth.html

On the ground: http://us31plysb.com/ConstructionPhotos2013.html