IN: US 50 North Vernon Bypass

[silverback1065]

So what will they call that stretch of SR 3. I don't believe there is any name for it. I can't think of any practical reason for even rerouting that highway.

either "old sr 3" or they'll let north vernon name it

[okroads]

Some pictures from yesterday:

DSC06558 by Eric Stuve, on Flickr

IN 750 EB @ IN 3. Notice the U.S. 50 shield just past the barriers.

DSC06572 by Eric Stuve, on Flickr

Western terminus of IN 750 @ US 50. Per the discussion above, this will soon be turned into a roundabout.

DSC06576 by Eric Stuve, on Flickr

First IN 750 shield with a TO IN 3 assembly

DSC06582 by Eric Stuve, on Flickr

IN 750 EB @ IN 3/IN 7. IN 3 North is straight ahead but is not signed as such here, nor is IN 3 signed anywhere along either direction of IN 750.

[thefro]

Per the North Vernon Plain Dealer, the bypass is opening on Dec 20th

At long last, the U.S. 50 bypass is opening.
Barricades will come down following a ribbon cutting on the eastern leg of the new highway at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 20. Then traffic will flow on the bypass.
"That is great news," said Jennings County Commissioner Matt Sporleder (R-District 3). "I am looking forward to using the bypass."
North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs said the new highway will be good for the city.
"It will be a big change and it's something we need," he noted. "I really think the bypass will be a good thing for North Vernon and will lead to more businesses and stores downtown."

Edit:  Read the whole article now and US 50 will be rerouted officially Wednesday when the bypass opens.

50 will be Walnut Street/Buckeye Street within the NV city limits and "Old US Highway 50" elsewhere

Nothing about SR3 being rerouted at all.

[paulthemapguy]

Per the North Vernon Plain Dealer, the bypass is opening on Dec 20th

At long last, the U.S. 50 bypass is opening.
Barricades will come down following a ribbon cutting on the eastern leg of the new highway at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 20. Then traffic will flow on the bypass.
"That is great news," said Jennings County Commissioner Matt Sporleder (R-District 3). "I am looking forward to using the bypass."
North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs said the new highway will be good for the city.
"It will be a big change and it's something we need," he noted. "I really think the bypass will be a good thing for North Vernon and will lead to more businesses and stores downtown."

So will it be utterly pointless for me to look for a IN-750 shield in the field after today?

Edit:  Read the whole article now and US 50 will be rerouted officially Wednesday when the bypass opens.

50 will be Walnut Street/Buckeye Street within the NV city limits and "Old US Highway 50" elsewhere

Nothing about SR3 being rerouted at all.

[thefro]

I drove on the new segment of the bypass yesterday evening and the US 50 signs aren't up yet on the new segment, although the sign frames are.  SR750 is still up on the first segment (at least between SR7 & 3).

[silverback1065]

Per the North Vernon Plain Dealer, the bypass is opening on Dec 20th

At long last, the U.S. 50 bypass is opening.
Barricades will come down following a ribbon cutting on the eastern leg of the new highway at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 20. Then traffic will flow on the bypass.
"That is great news," said Jennings County Commissioner Matt Sporleder (R-District 3). "I am looking forward to using the bypass."
North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs said the new highway will be good for the city.
"It will be a big change and it's something we need," he noted. "I really think the bypass will be a good thing for North Vernon and will lead to more businesses and stores downtown."

So will it be utterly pointless for me to look for a IN-750 shield in the field after today?

Edit:  Read the whole article now and US 50 will be rerouted officially Wednesday when the bypass opens.

50 will be Walnut Street/Buckeye Street within the NV city limits and "Old US Highway 50" elsewhere

Nothing about SR3 being rerouted at all.

I'm assuming the portion inside city limits will only be that way for a few months, their probably still hashing out a deal there. 

[thefro]

Per the North Vernon Plain Dealer print edition from a week ago, US 50 isn't going to be signed on the bypass until the Summer when they have all work completed.

[NWI_Irish96]

Drove the bypass a few days ago and it is all still signed as IN 750. 

[gilpdawg]

Drove the bypass a few days ago and it is all still signed as IN 750.

It's signed as 50 now.

[paulthemapguy]

Is the former alignment of US50 signed as anything?  A business route, perhaps?

[oscar]

Is the former alignment of US50 signed as anything?  A business route, perhaps?

Nope. I wish it were.

[csw]

Per Google Maps, taking the old route through the town is faster....

The purpose must be to remove trucks from downtown. Anyone know how much truck traffic this section of US 50 gets?

[edwaleni]

Per Google Maps, taking the old route through the town is faster....

The purpose must be to remove trucks from downtown. Anyone know how much truck traffic this section of US 50 gets?

2 reasons US 50 was moved.

Industrial Park north of town, specifically a large Lowes Distribution Center (with a large number of trucks) that services Cincy, Indy and Louisville.

There is a functional railroad (Madison Railroad) that traverses the center of town from the south to the industrial park to the north. This railroad crossing gets blocked occasionally because much of the traffic switches off the nearby CSX Indiana Sub, which is very busy with Cincy to Louisville traffic currently.

Honestly, INDOT didn't have a great deal of choices when looking at a bypass. The south route is blocked by Muskatuck Park and Old Vernon.

Honda Motor in nearby Greensburg has 2 suppliers in town, and taking IN-3 north (which has also been improved to a 4 lane part way) gets you to Honda quickly.

Hopefully that helps.

This bypass wasn't really about improving E-W travel times, it was strictly economic.

[thefro]

US 50 got a ton of truck traffic through North Vernon before the bypass.  Besides Lowes, Wal-Mart has a distribution center in nearby Seymour so all their trucks going to the Cincinnati area take US 50.  There is also Muscatatuck Urban Training center where large military convoys travel in for training.  Batesville Casket also sends their trucks southbound through there.  I've been waiting before at the US 50/SR 3/7 intersection and literally counted ~10 semis going through.

My understanding is that the state promised Lowes the bypass decades when the economic incentives, etc were put together to locate the Lowes distribution center in Indiana.

Another trivia note is that the local State Rep at the time for Jennings County was the tie-breaking vote for Indiana to change to Daylight Savings time and the carrot to get him to change his vote was moving the US 50 bypass up INDOT's priority list.

Is the former alignment of US50 signed as anything?  A business route, perhaps?

It's named Old US Highway 50 outside the North Vernon city limits, and Walnut street /Buckeye street inside.  No shields.