US 31 Hamilton County, Indiana

[silverback1065]

116th and Pennsylvania roundabout is now open, fully signed, paved and striped.  I think this literally just happened, just drove it on the way home.  Map maker gurus on here can add that back now. 

[cjw2001]

116th and Pennsylvania roundabout is now open, fully signed, paved and striped.  I think this literally just happened, just drove it on the way home.  Map maker gurus on here can add that back now.

It's already been mapped for two months now, I just set it to started mode at that time so to make it invisible.   I marked it completed as soon as I got the newsletter from the state that it was open.

[silverback1065]

With the weather we are having, this could all be open for traffic ahead of schedule.

Nexus 6P

[silverback1065]

is there a reason why there is no lighting on mainline 31?  was this a cost cutting measure?  I feel like they should have at least added lights up to SR 32.  All I see is the occasional interchange tower light.

[bmeiser]

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs123/1112548744559/archive/1123159916614.html

US 31 lane restriction between 106th Street and 126th Street/Carmel Drive today, Dec. 11
Through 4:30 p.m. today, Dec. 11, motorists should expect the inside, left lane of northbound US 31 to be restricted between 106th Street and 126th Street/Carmel Drive. Crews are removing barrier wall and placing pavement markings to prepare for an upcoming traffic shift.

"Upcoming traffic shift" = opening the mainline between 103rd and Old Meridian? 

[cjw2001]

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs123/1112548744559/archive/1123159916614.html

US 31 lane restriction between 106th Street and 126th Street/Carmel Drive today, Dec. 11
Through 4:30 p.m. today, Dec. 11, motorists should expect the inside, left lane of northbound US 31 to be restricted between 106th Street and 126th Street/Carmel Drive. Crews are removing barrier wall and placing pavement markings to prepare for an upcoming traffic shift.

"Upcoming traffic shift" = opening the mainline between 103rd and Old Meridian? 

If this is supposed to be open by end of year that would be the only thing that makes sense.

[monty]

Yes, all of the new US 31 construction should all be "drivable" (INDOT commissioner's words) by the end of the year.

[mukade]

They were removing all of the temporary concrete barriers from around old Meridian to near I-465. I assume the mainline will open today or tomorrow, but there was still a gantry laying on the road at 106th Street. The new US 31 mainline south of Old Meridian was mostly striped, and it looked like final paving had been done - which is surprising to me. Last Sunday they were paving, and i suspect they laid pavement every day this past week. From Old Meridian north, they removed the temporary lane markings today that have co-existed with the final striping the last few weeks. The northbound left lane is now open so that section looks very good now.

The two major problem areas I noticed are:
1)  The flyover from EB I-465 to NB US 31 where the concrete barriers are yet to be poured. They were paving the ramp today, however. I suspect they could pour the concrete even if the temperatures are colder so it could be open late this year.
2) The roundabouts at 106th and 116th Streets at the US 31 ramps - obviously, those will not be complete until Spring, but they were also working on those today as the temperature was 68 when I drove back through there in the afternoon.

[silverback1065]

I'd say mainline opening is imminent, likely by the end of the week, it's fully striped.

[Moose]

US 31 today north of 465 is down to one lane each direction as I type. They have semis and payloaders pulling out the K rails all over!

It may be open VERY soon.

[cjw2001]

Announcement from the state:

US 31 traffic shifts, delays in Carmel Dec. 15-17

US 31 traffic should be alert and anticipate added delays between I-465 and 131st Street as crews implement traffic pattern changes and pavement marking adjustments today, Dec. 15, through Thursday, Dec. 17.

• Northbound and southbound US 31 may be restricted to one lane in each direction while pavement markings are adjusted during daytime/evening hours.
• Northbound US 31 traffic will shift onto new bridges over 106th and 116th streets tomorrow, Dec. 16. Southbound traffic is anticipated to make a similar shift on Thursday, Dec. 17. These traffic shifts will open the freeway to three lanes in each direction and effectively remove the final two traffic signals from US 31 through Carmel.
• After the traffic shift on Dec. 16, motorists wishing to access 106th Street from northbound US 31 must do so via the new exit ramp just north of I-465.
• Drivers headed to I-465 from southbound US 31 will use the new ramp over 106th Street.

Both the eastbound and westbound I-465 exit ramps to northbound US 31 and southbound Meridian Street are anticipated to be widened to two lanes at the end of this week.

All ramps at the I-465/US 31 interchange, including two new free-flowing ramps from I-465 to northbound US 31, are anticipated to be open to traffic and in their final configurations by the end of the year.

[silverback1065]

great news! can't wait for the flyover to open.

[okroads]

I'll be driving this on Sunday morning so I'm looking forward to seeing how this is progressing.

[cjw2001]

Northbound mainline opened on schedule today.  Just drove the new 106th/116th overpass segments on the way home from dinner.  The exit for 106th is still in the temporary construction crossover position where 103rd street used to cross and not the final position further south.

Southbound mainline should open tomorrow.

Still work to be done to get the interchange at 465 ready by end of year.

[cjw2001]

Southbound mainline is fully open now for the 116th and 106th overpasses.  Southbound Meridian Street traffic has also shifted to the new pavement on the west side of the roadway including the new zig zag in the road to slow traffic where the freeway ends.  The northbound Meridian Street to eastbound I465 ramp entrance has been moved to the final position with the dedicated ramp entrance from westbound 96th also open.

I'm seeing additional progress on the westbound I465 to US 31 ramp with new signage installed but that ramp is not yet open.  Northbound traffic to US 31 is still using what will be the ramp to southbound Meridian for now.  Work also continues on the eastbound I465 to US 31 flyover ramp.

Traffic from Northbound Meridian/US 31 to 106th is still using a temporary ramp entrance where 103rd street used to cross.  The roundabouts interchanges at 106th and 116th still need a lot of work and probably won't fully be completed until spring.   Still stoplights at the end of the ramps for now.

I've now updated Google Maps to set the entire length of the reconstructed US 31 to freeway priority.  Northbound edit approved, southbound edit still pending approval.  Still have more work to do to get all the ramps marked with the correct priority and still have some segments showing up as closed that I'm working on getting marked as completed.   Also need to make some priority and name adjustments on Meridian Street south of where the freeway ends.  Edits on high priority roads can take some time to get approved but we are getting there.

[silverback1065]

The zig zag needs some work too (in map maker), it's not curved enough, just looks like a straight line with a kink in it.

Nexus 6P

[cjw2001]

The zig zag needs some work too (in map maker), it's not curved enough, just looks like a straight line with a kink in it.

Nexus 6P

Still fighting with Google on that one.  I add it, they take it back out, I add it back.  I'll worry about the fine tuning once I win that battle.     I'm taking a day off from work today so I'll have more time to make further adjustments.

[silverback1065]

The zig zag needs some work too (in map maker), it's not curved enough, just looks like a straight line with a kink in it.

Nexus 6P

Still fighting with Google on that one.  I add it, they take it back out, I add it back.  I'll worry about the fine tuning once I win that battle.   

I understand, the map maker mods are a pain in the ass, their first method of action to almost all changes is "nope he's wrong".

[cjw2001]

The zig zag needs some work too (in map maker), it's not curved enough, just looks like a straight line with a kink in it.

Nexus 6P

Still fighting with Google on that one.  I add it, they take it back out, I add it back.  I'll worry about the fine tuning once I win that battle.   

I understand, the map maker mods are a pain in the ass, their first method of action to almost all changes is "nope he's wrong".

Hey there, I'm one of those Regional Lead moderators now - be nice  .  Google understood that changes were needed and things have improved since Google empowered the new Regional Leads earlier this year to approve more of the user edits without Google intervention.   The Regional Leads will still enforce the ground rules but are much more likely to understand what is going on since we are local and not on the other side of the planet.

As a trusted Regional Lead I'm also able to make most of my edits without Google approval, which is why I was able to immediately put the zig zag back when they took it out last night.   

Half the battle of editing in mapmaker is understanding Google's ground rules and definitions and providing good comments for the moderators as to why you are making the changes you are doing.  Google still does some bad edits from afar but that is usually due to them working from outdated image data.   If you document in your comments what you are doing and why, mention that the sat data is out of date, and have a good approval history you can get quite a bit done.  I mapped almost all the new interchanges on US 31 and most of the related changes to local roads affected by the project over the last several years, which is why Google maps has been kept up to date so quickly as the US 31 project progressed.

[silverback1065]

The zig zag needs some work too (in map maker), it's not curved enough, just looks like a straight line with a kink in it.

Nexus 6P

Still fighting with Google on that one.  I add it, they take it back out, I add it back.  I'll worry about the fine tuning once I win that battle.   

I understand, the map maker mods are a pain in the ass, their first method of action to almost all changes is "nope he's wrong".

Hey there, I'm one of those Regional Lead moderators now - be nice  .  Google understood that changes were needed and things have improved since Google empowered the new Regional Leads earlier this year to approve more of the user edits without Google intervention.   The Regional Leads will still enforce the ground rules but are much more likely to understand what is going on since we are local and not on the other side of the planet.

As a trusted Regional Lead I'm also able to make most of my edits without Google approval, which is why I was able to immediately put the zig zag back when they took it out last night.   

Half the battle of editing in mapmaker is understanding Google's ground rules and definitions and providing good comments for the moderators as to why you are making the changes you are doing.  Google still does some bad edits from afar but that is usually due to them working from outdated image data.   If you document in your comments what you are doing and why, mention that the sat data is out of date, and have a good approval history you can get quite a bit done.  I mapped almost all the new interchanges on US 31 and most of the related changes to local roads affected by the project over the last several years, which is why Google maps has been kept up to date so quickly as the US 31 project progressed.

How do you become a regional mod? Also, can you fix US 52 in lafayette? They refuse to accept my edits.

[cjw2001]

The zig zag needs some work too (in map maker), it's not curved enough, just looks like a straight line with a kink in it.

Nexus 6P

I've added some slight curves at the appropriate places, likely will be late today or tomorrow before it shows up on maps.

[dfwmapper]

How do you become a regional mod? Also, can you fix US 52 in lafayette? They refuse to accept my edits.

No one can fix US 52 in Lafayette. There are a couple a half-submitted edits in the system blocking name changes on both Teal and Sagamore, and there's no way to get rid of those. Trust me, we've tried.

[bmeiser]

Article in the IndyStar today about US31's opening in Hamilton County.

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2015/12/18/state-opens-us-31-through-carmel/77553678/

I drove through today and it's pretty nice. They've left a layer of blacktop off for the winter until, I assume, everything is done between 96th and 103rd. The northbound exit for 106th still isn't in the final configuration and they haven't moved northbound  to the new southbound lanes at 96th st yet. There was significant work going on on the flyover today including pouring concrete for the side walls. As long as the weather allows it, I don't see any issue having that open by the end of the year.

[Lyon Wonder]

How do you become a regional mod? Also, can you fix US 52 in lafayette? They refuse to accept my edits.

No one can fix US 52 in Lafayette. There are a couple a half-submitted edits in the system blocking name changes on both Teal and Sagamore, and there's no way to get rid of those. Trust me, we've tried.

IMO, the only fix I can think of is to make US 52 concurrent with I-65 to US 24 at Remington, and US 52 between US 41 and Lafayette can either be a rerouted US 231 or given a state route number.

[silverback1065]

There is no reason that I can think of, other than the plants shutting down for the winter, for why they didn't put surface down for the part that just opened.