Fort-to-Port meet Nov 7

[rawmustard]

The Fort-to-Port meet is scheduled for November 7, 2009.

PLACE: Don Hall's Commissary Restaurant
216 Highway 930 West
New Haven, IN 46774
TIME: 10:30 a.m.

After the meal, we will proceed with the following itinerary
*The new US-24 (Fort-to-Port) scheduled to open from SR 101 near Woodburn to Baltimore Ave (old US-24) near Defiance, OH
*The Spencerville Covered Bridge, which is located in DeKalb County not too far from SR 1, about 10 miles from Fort Wayne.
*SR-1/Dupont Road reconstruction
*The relatively recent I-69 expansion around Fort Wayne
*Airport Expressway to the airport
*Lincoln Highway and some of the other old routing through town, which is pretty well-signed. There's also a tourist info center downtown which displays some historical information of that era.

We can see any other area projects or features if there's time or interest. You may RSVP either through a PM here or by email to rawmustard@yahoo.com. I look forward to having a nice meet near the Hoosier State's second-largest city.

[hbelkins]

I plan to visit Ft. Wayne on my way to Grand Rapids, and am always up for a road meet somewhere, but this one might be questionable for me. My mother-in-law is supposed to have a knee replacement the week of Thanksgiving, and will likely require lengthy therapy/rehabilitation and I'll either have to help her out or take on more responsibility at home as my wife helps her mother. A lot will depend on timing and, of course, weather.

However, if something happens and I don't get to make Grand Rapids, I'd be more likely to attend a Fort Wayne meeting. All I need to clinch Indiana's counties are those along the US 27 corridor between Richmond and Fort Wayne, plus a handful in the NW and west-central parts of the state.

(Gonna fill in my four blanks in the south-central part of the state next week since I have to be in Louisville for two nights on business. An evening side trip ought to get the ones I'm missing in that area).

[Chris]

Interesting business of clinching counties... As far as I know, there isn't such an equivalent of it in Europe, although I know a guy who has photographed all 3568 city limit signs in the Netherlands, and all 999 road numbers. 

[rawmustard]

A lot will depend on timing and, of course, weather.

Personally, I'd prefer to do it in the earlier weeks of November precisely because of weather, and I can't imagine that they'd take until December to open the road, but I'm leaving early December just as a possibility. It may even work out that the meet is held right before the opening like you had with Charleston and US-35. Perhaps as this month presses on, we might learn a more specific timeframe for the opening and thus narrow down on a date. I know I'll probably bring it up during the Grand Rapids meet, since a lot of those attendees could probably make the trip to Fort Wayne and back within a day.

[rawmustard]

Just to let everyone know that I've done a quick news check, and according to articles posted in the last week, ODOT is aiming for the first part of November for opening the portion I'm planning to tour, thus I've narrowed down the dates to November 7 or November 14, and depending on ODOT's definition of how long the first part of the month lasts, it'll likely be the earlier date. I'm planning to do a scouting trip sometime in the next few weeks to get a more exact lay of the land and from there develop an itinerary. Once I've chosen more precise details, it will be posted on this forum's calendar. Suggestions are still welcome as always.

[rawmustard]

I made a scouting trip to the area yesterday afternoon, and for the most part, the section scheduled to open in November looked to the point where it will open in November. I'm looking to having the meal in New Haven, and the restaurant where I ate yesterday (a Don Hall's) looks like it might be suitable, but if I have a contingent of over 10, there's really only one area we could sit in. But most of the places downtown looked as if they catered to 21+ only, and I don't want to exclude those under 21 from the meal if they ventured up for this meet. I can't see it taking more than 90 minutes to drive to Defiance and back and that's even allowing for a stop or two along the way. There is some construction going on a few miles west of Woodburn, and I also should note that the Ohio portion from the Indiana line to Defiance will have some at-grade intersections much like the portion from Defiance to Napoleon does currently has.

[rawmustard]

INDOT posted a press release regarding major projects in Allen County. Of course, the Fort-to-Port is mentioned, but still no specific date as to the opening of the road from SR 101 east to the Ohio line (2012 obviously refers to Indiana's entire portion). Regardless if an annoucement by either INDOT or ODOT is made by then, I will make a formal announcement by the start of October. I'd also expect to add some of the other projects mentioned in the presser to the itinerary of those items I've mentioned previously. As always, I'll keep my eyes peeled for any other relevant updates.

[rawmustard]

The details of the meet are now posted in the original message. Please take note.

[ruffnerr]

I'll attend this one.  Hopefully. 

[hbelkins]

Sorry to hear you were under the weather, Richard.

I'm iffy on this one. I drove through Fort Wayne on Thursday and am not sure I'm up to making the trek up US 27 again so soon afterwards. But i will let you know.

[hbelkins]

This is now a possibility. What time do you think we'll be done on Saturday evening?

[rawmustard]

This is now a possibility. What time do you think we'll be done on Saturday evening?

I'm planning to wrap up before we lose daylight, which by that time will be close to 5. But if we can get on the road by noon and the stops don't take too long, we'd likely be done plenty sooner than that.

[rawmustard]

The portion of U.S. 24 that I plan to tour opens October 29. Barring any rain between then and the meet, the pavement should be sufficiently rubbered up for our motley caravan.

[hbelkins]

The portion of U.S. 24 that I plan to tour opens October 29. Barring any rain between then and the meet, the pavement should be sufficiently rubbered up for our motley caravan.

If it rains the night before, at what milepost are you going to call a competition caution to check for tire wear? 

[hbelkins]

Greetings from Fort Wayne. I decided to come and am in my motel. See you guys tomorrow AM.

[rawmustard]

My set of pics from the meet have been uploaded.

It turned out to be wonderful weather-wise. There were eight of us total who took a spin on a stretch of US-24 that opened only nine days ago. We then ventured back via the old road to take SR 101 north to Scipio Road, which, despite the "fresh country air" as my dad likes to call it, took us to the Spencerville Covered Bridge. Going back by SR 1 back towards Fort Wayne, we saw the Dupont Road expansion project near the expanding Parkview North medical campus.

After a brief respite at Culver's, we then proceeded down I-69 to the Airport Expressway, then took Paulding to Lafayette (US 27) and followed that downtown. We followed the 1915 routing of the Lincoln Highway out of downtown and then followed US-33 up to an old bridge over the Eel River. After that, we backtracked back to SR 930, which we followed back to the restaurant, where we parted ways.

Those keeping track of the spread of Clearview may want to know that the Fort-to-Port section didn't have any, which we surmise was because the contract was let before ODOT's adoption of Clearview. The interchanges are numbered, and we found OH 127 shields on a couple of the advance BGSes. (Dan will have to provide photos of those, as I only noticed one before I could get my camera ready.) We had a great time as always.

[hbelkins]

The Bengals have a home game tomorrow afternoon. I will never get back across the river. 

[hbelkins]

(Note to mods: Not sure where road trip reports should go in the structure of the topics so I'm placing it here.)

In a last-possible-moment decision, I decided to attend the Fort-to-Port meet in Fort Wayne, Ind. last Saturday.

My route up from Kentucky was I-75 north, OH 309 west, US 30 west, I-469 north and I-69 north to my motel. My route back home was basically the same, except I took US 127 south and US 33 west to get back to I-75, and I took I-275's inner loop (west-south-east) around Cincinnati to avoid Bengals' game traffic downtown.

Does a traffic slowdown occur every afternoon on I-75 north in the Norwood Lateral-Paddock Road area? Last time I drove this route in the afternoon (to the Dayton meet last year) traffic was at a standstill in this area. This time it was bumper-to-bumper and slow, but not stopped.

Saw a few Clearview signs on I-75 north of Cincinnati and also in the Dayton area. I-75 is under construction practically all the way between I-275 and I-675.

OH 309, the old routing of US 30S, takes several twists and turns through Lima. I suspect this was not always the routing of 309 or 30S. One of the turns is not marked, causing me to miss it but I recovered quickly enough.

Oddly enough, most of the development in Lima is not near the interstate, but is on the west side of town. This was a major retail area with lots of stores.

It was getting dark when I got closer to the Indiana state line but I made it to Fort Wayne without any problems or deer encounters, unlike some other motorists as evidenced by the number of deer carcasses I saw all along the route, especially between I-64 and I-71 along I-75 in Kentucky.

Lots of corn and soybeans still standing in Ohio and Indiana, and harvesting was taking place in many fields even as darkness approached and fell.

The meet itself was very enjoyable, the weather was perfect for a mid-fall day. Our first stop to check out construction of a segment of US 24 was interrupted by an Indiana state trooper with a surly attitude. "Prick" is the word I'd use to describe him. His demeanor was in total contrast to the trooper we encountered at the Charleston, WV meet.

Got to see two "OH 127" goofs on a couple of the guide signs on eastbound US 24, which were duly photographed.

After the return trip to Ft. Wayne via a portion of gravel road with the wonderful aroma of manure wafting across the countryside to see the Spencerville covered bridge, we did some exploring of the city and then checked out a very old bridge that has been bypassed by a newer alignment of US 33 northwest of town.

After the meet broke up, I headed back and varied my route from the way up by taking US 127 from US 30 down to US 33, and then US 33 across to Wapakoneta. Saw some old button copy on US 33 just prior to I-75.

Overnighted in Dayton, made a stop at the Ikea store north of Cincinnati to pick up something for my wife, and opted to circle downtown to stay out of Bengals' game-day traffic. It only added 20 miles to my trip and probably was faster if traffic backs up for Bengals' games like it used to do for Reds' games. All the signage along I-275 from I-75 around to US 52 has been replaced; button copy remains only at the US 52 exits.

Saw more deer carnage southbound along I-75, especially in Grant and Scott counties. Progress is being made on the I-75 widening project. Crews were paving on Friday in the new southbound lanes and the work should be done in time for next fall's World Equestrian Games in Lexington.

I was on the fence about attending this meet up until noontime on Friday, which was my deadline to decide so I could make it without having to do too much driving in the dark. (I am very leery of deer this time of year). It ended up being an enjoyable time. This is likely my last meet of the year, I'm looking forward to more next year and am beginning to lean more and more toward having a multi-day "national" meet in Kentucky next May or June.

[Alps]

(Note to mods: Not sure where road trip reports should go in the structure of the topics so I'm placing it here.)

Same topic as the meet!  Easy peasy.

[DanTheMan414]

I've got 19 photos from the Fort Wayne meet on 11/07 up on Flickr.  Featured are photos of the Spencerville Covered Bridge, as well as photos of a truss bridge that exists next to US 33 northwest of Fort Wayne along a former alignment of the Lincoln Highway.  Check out the photos at the following link.  Thanks, and enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22580908@N06/sets/72157622764294913/

-Dan