More US 31 upgrades between Indy and South Bend

[LM117]

Does anyone know Mayor Pete's stance on US 31 becoming an interstate? If Congress ever gets a transportation bill going could he influence US 31 becoming I-67 to Grand Rapids?

SM-G950U

You're right that it won't be by itself.  I'm guessing Biden will want to do some infrastructure projects; they look good politically by creating jobs and generally make proponents of said infrastructure (including many voters) happy. A highway that is nearly to interstate standards could be considered an easy-to-attain project so it wouldn't surprise me. I wouldn't expect it to connect directly with I-196 at its north end because of the endangered species issue and Michigan is already working on the workaround. An new infrastructure bill should at least spur the completion of the I-94 connection. I don't know if either the Keystone Parkway or Meridian St could be upgraded to interstate standards, so that may hold back an I-67 regardless.

I'm going to guess that there might be more luck with BUILD grants (or whatever they will be called). Kentucky got a few of them because Elaine Chao is married to Mitch McConnell. Buttgieg, being from Indiana, might be more inclined to award grants to his home state.

As a South Bend resident, I can attest that this city has had a long bi-partisan interest in raising US-31 between here and Indianapolis to full freeway status, with or without putting an Interstate number on it. While Pete will no doubt have his focus on the big picture, he still has planty of friends in South Bend, including his successor as mayor. If slapping an "I" on the route might help getting funding, then that might happen.

If a future Interstate route is to continue north from the US-20 interchange on the south side, it's true that some improvement would be needed to bring the route up to standards. The main improvement would be to that interchange, a sub-standard cloverleaf. Many other improvements to the South Bend bypass have accomplished in recent years.

The issue is, the improvements InDOT is planning north of Kokomo are not to interstate standards, including the proposed "interchanges" (as proposed, the interchanges proposed along this segment really aren't proper freeway interchanges). If they want to get a freeway along the corridor, perhaps the congressional delegation will need to take a page from Arkansas and designate the route as "Future I-67" like Arkansas did with "Future I-57". That will guarantee any upgrades will need to be done to Interstate standards.

NCDOT recently constructed two interchanges along US-70 that are not up to interstate standards, and will soon be going back to reconstruct them to have longer ramps and wider loops to accommodate Interstate 42 which was designated in 2016, after the initial interchanges were designed. Oddly enough, long term freeway upgrades were for many years prior envisioned, so why they built what they did is beyond me.

Probably because even though upgrading US-70 to a freeway was a long-term goal, locals in eastern NC didn't start pushing for an interstate designation until 2013, so interstate standards didn't come into play until recent years.

[I-39]

I am not that surprised that this happened... 

https://www.crossville-chronicle.com/news/tennessee_news/tipton-co-rejects-us-31-division-rd-interchange-plan/article_4878d7be-1fd7-5779-ae87-06a6225f19ba.html

And here they still aren't referring to this segment as a freeway. I don't get it.

It's pretty simple, really -- INDOT doesn't want to publicly commit to full-"freewayization" of US 31 from Indy to Kokomo, at least in the near term.  Within their own ranks, it's probably been decided that eventually it'll be all freeway, but even hinting as to when that'll occur isn't in the cards right now for any number of reasons fiscal and even political.  Although a sizeable portion of the route has already been raised to freeway standards, these days publicly stating that long-range freeway plans are forthcoming often results in pointed criticism from some quarters (usually the usual suspect in that regard such as die-hard urbanists and their supporters) or, alternately, continued pressure from those who benefit from deployment of new freeways; more often than not local residents.  Thus more than a few DOT's keep the addition of freeway miles largely  "on the down low", deploying a mile or two here and there until a full new facility is up & running.

An educated guess -- INDOT's preference would have been the "midwest corridor" concept -- freeway bypasses of the major towns along route along with deployment of interchanges at major intersecting routes, with controlled-access expressway for as much of the remainder of the route could be deployed, but tolerating private access if such was longstanding, the usual result of route "twinning".  However, both internal policy differences -- which "roller-coaster" between support for a full freeway between Indy and South Bend and the abject realization that there's little in the way of funds to support such a concept -- and today's political atmosphere have rendered such plans DOA.  Since the whole corridor was built out to 4 lanes, but with the retention of full private access along much of the length, any upgrades will come at some cost of continued good will between INDOT and the public arena along the corridor.   Private homes and farms along the route will at some point be inconvenienced by said upgrades, even if simply limited to access to one's side of the road via RIRO's and/or median barriers.  The "J-turn" concept was an attempt by INDOT to effectively "have it all" with minimal expense of both construction funds and public good will -- but it backfired; the locals saw the attempt to technically maintain US 31 traffic as "free flowing" but with a high level of inconvenience to cross-traffic from intersecting highways and roads.   

At this point it appears that the local residents have come to the realization that a full freeway, with all the by-products of somewhat lessened immediate access to parties immediately along the original route, is likely to be the final outcome, so they're in favor of INDOT building out to this standard ASAP -- but the agency just lacks the funds to do so near-term, positing "stop-gap" measures such as the aforementioned J-turns for safety purposes.  But when confronted with this local push-back, the agency, lacking a cohesive "plan B", proposes interim measures within its budgetary guidelines, resulting in even more negative local reaction.  I for one suspect that eventually INDOT will commence planning to elevate the entire route to a full freeway, likely Interstate-grade, but at a decidedly leisurely pace that reflects financial limitations.                                           

I agree about it becoming a full freeway eventually. It doesn't make sense to have every corner of the state connected by a freeway EXCEPT South Bend.

[monty]

Looks like the 236th St interchange construction is soon to commence: https://www.in.gov/indot/files/US%2031%20and%20236th%20Fact%20Sheet.jpg

[bmeiser]

Went through there this weekend and the Speedway is closed and some demolition was going on on the west side of 31 just north of the intersection.

Also looked to be some demo going on around the railroad crossing just south of Division Rd in Tipton county.

[monty]

Back to the drawing board in Tipton County: https://www.kokomotribune.com/news/local_news/indot-goes-back-to-drawing-board-for-u-s-31-plans-in-tipton-county/article_ec648f1c-90c1-11eb-b510-9f365416515d.html?fbclid=IwAR0AyNQAQtjowIEB75KRi9x6BnzgQSwqxGH7elJkKKfokuK7bIIdtQq-nh0#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

[I-39]

Back to the drawing board in Tipton County: https://www.kokomotribune.com/news/local_news/indot-goes-back-to-drawing-board-for-u-s-31-plans-in-tipton-county/article_ec648f1c-90c1-11eb-b510-9f365416515d.html?fbclid=IwAR0AyNQAQtjowIEB75KRi9x6BnzgQSwqxGH7elJkKKfokuK7bIIdtQq-nh0#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

Oh my gosh, this is getting ridiculous. InDOT needs to make up their mind!

Even if the whole corridor ultimately ends up not being so, the section between SR 38 and Kokomo needs to be fully access controlled freeway, period end of discussion.

[sprjus4]

Question... what is stopping InDOT from increasing the speed limit on the US-31 freeway between I-465 and SH-38 from 55 mph to 65 mph? Every other freeway (I-65, I-74, I-70, I-69) outside the beltway immediately bumps to 65 mph, but US-31 stays 55 mph and doesn't increase to 60 mph until it becomes a non-limited access highway.

Assuming speed limit laws did not discriminate between interstate highway (70 mph) and limited access highway (65 mph), US-31 should be 65 mph up until SH-38, then 70 mph on an upgraded corridor north to Kokomo.

[I-55]

Question... what is stopping InDOT from increasing the speed limit on the US-31 freeway between I-465 and SH-38 from 55 mph to 65 mph? Every other freeway (I-65, I-74, I-70, I-69) outside the beltway immediately bumps to 65 mph, but US-31 stays 55 mph and doesn't increase to 60 mph until it becomes a non-limited access highway.

I always thought this was due to a noise ordinance in Carmel but could never confirm. I've done 75 easy on that stretch with traffic so the limit is certainly too low imho.

[NWI_Irish96]

Question... what is stopping InDOT from increasing the speed limit on the US-31 freeway between I-465 and SH-38 from 55 mph to 65 mph? Every other freeway (I-65, I-74, I-70, I-69) outside the beltway immediately bumps to 65 mph, but US-31 stays 55 mph and doesn't increase to 60 mph until it becomes a non-limited access highway.

I always thought this was due to a noise ordinance in Carmel but could never confirm. I've done 75 easy on that stretch with traffic so the limit is certainly too low imho.

In a different thread, someone was suggesting that I-465 needs to have some or all of its speed limit upgraded to 65. Nearly 100% of my driving in the Indy area is at times other than rush hour, so I don't feel qualified to comment on whether or not the speed limits are too low. On just about any freeway it's going to be fine to do 15+ over the speed limit during off-peak times.

[tdindy88]

Question... what is stopping InDOT from increasing the speed limit on the US-31 freeway between I-465 and SH-38 from 55 mph to 65 mph? Every other freeway (I-65, I-74, I-70, I-69) outside the beltway immediately bumps to 65 mph, but US-31 stays 55 mph and doesn't increase to 60 mph until it becomes a non-limited access highway.

I could guess that the closeness of some of the exits from I-465 to Keystone Parkway might "necessitate" a lower limit. The cynical person in me would suggest it's a way to improve Carmel's coffers. Those roundabouts aren't going to pay for themselves after all .

[silverback1065]

The reason is state law, INDOT's hands are tied. State law says 55 in urban areas. 69 in Ham Co was placed at 65 well before this area was urban so they never lowered it.

[silverback1065]

I'm willing to bet INDOT is going to come up with the obvious answer from this 2-3 study. Overpasses at all the previously planned roads and cul-de-sacs and a full interchange at division road.

[I-39]

I'm willing to bet INDOT is going to come up with the obvious answer from this 2-3 study. Overpasses at all the previously planned roads and cul-de-sacs and a full interchange at division road.

That is what they had proposed. Why are they changing this?

[silverback1065]

I'm willing to bet INDOT is going to come up with the obvious answer from this 2-3 study. Overpasses at all the previously planned roads and cul-de-sacs and a full interchange at division road.

That is what they had proposed. Why are they changing this?

they took out the division road interchange due to money. then brought it back if the county took over 213 county refused. i think they will realize that they will need to go back to their original idea.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The original website on the US 31 limited-access upgrade between SR 38 in Westfield to SR 931 in Kokomo has since been upgraded to... the U.S. 31 Limited-Access Upgrade between SR 38 to 286th Street in northern Hamilton County.

https://www.in.gov/indot/4277.htm

Interchanges will be located at 236th and 276th Streets with a right-in, right-out (RIRO) configuration at 286th Street.
Overpasses will be located at 226th and 266th Streets with cul-del-sacs at 216th, 241st, 246th, 256th, and 281st Streets.

Construction should start in late 2021 with the 236th Street interchange with phases to start in FY 2022.

Timeline (my prediction):
2021-2022: 236th Street Interchange
2022-2023: 276th Street Interchange and upgrades on 31 between the 276th Street interchange to 286th Street intersection
2023-2024: Upgrades on 31 between SR 38 and 236th Street interchanges
2024-2025: Upgrades on 31 between 236th Street and 276th Street interchages

[tdindy88]

Why the RIRO for 286th Street? Couldn't that just be a cul-de-sac or an overpass.I still think 276th is stupid for an interchange. There should be one at 266th instead for a straighter shot to Arcadia and one at 296th for Atlanta. That plus the one at Division Road should be perfect enough for US 31 up to Kokomo.

[The Ghostbuster]

If the discussed corridor is ultimately to be completely upgraded to freeway standards, there should be no RIRO intersections, or any at-grade intersections period.

[silverback1065]

Why the RIRO for 286th Street? Couldn't that just be a cul-de-sac or an overpass.I still think 276th is stupid for an interchange. There should be one at 266th instead for a straighter shot to Arcadia and one at 296th for Atlanta. That plus the one at Division Road should be perfect enough for US 31 up to Kokomo.

I agree, but it's there because Hamilton County considers 276th St. a major cooridor. It also leads to a large business east of 31.

[silverback1065]

Why the RIRO for 286th Street? Couldn't that just be a cul-de-sac or an overpass.I still think 276th is stupid for an interchange. There should be one at 266th instead for a straighter shot to Arcadia and one at 296th for Atlanta. That plus the one at Division Road should be perfect enough for US 31 up to Kokomo.

one word, MONEY 

[monty]

Really, all that has changed is a speedier completion for the Hamilton County segment while waiting for the three year study and delaying major work in Tipton County. If you read the entire document, you can anticipate closure of the median in Tipton County where deemed necessary during the interim study period.

I suppose this also delays (yet again) the NS RR overpass project, which has been rated the number one or two highest rated safety project along this corridor for many years. I could write a book on all the INDOT changes along this corridor. I'm not going to state that the conversion is an easy or inexpensive thing to do, but the constant changes sows so much public confusion.

[tdindy88]

I believe the railroad bridge is still a go. The rest of the Tipton County part is now delayed.

[sparker]

Why the RIRO for 286th Street? Couldn't that just be a cul-de-sac or an overpass.I still think 276th is stupid for an interchange. There should be one at 266th instead for a straighter shot to Arcadia and one at 296th for Atlanta. That plus the one at Division Road should be perfect enough for US 31 up to Kokomo.

one word, MONEY 

It looks like 286th Street marks the north limits of the upgrades, limited in scope as they are.  The RIRO set there is likely a "stop-gap measure to render the whole section in Hamilton County as "free-flow"; if a decision to pursue a full-freeway option occurs down the line, that could be readily turned into a folded diamond with an overpass for 286th.  At least there aren't any J-turns proposed for this section -- INDOT has apparently taken the hand-slapping they got for that concept in Miami County to heart and has adjusted their planning efforts accordingly.   

[monty]

I agree with Sparker. Drive south beyond 286th St after this phase and speed limit jumps to 65 for seven miles. North of there, we will see reduced crossovers and ad hoc measures until the study is over and we learn what is newly planned for Tipton County. 

I am interested in seeing how a new proposed J turn is received in Miami County at US 24 & IN 19.

[monty]

I believe the railroad bridge is still a go. The rest of the Tipton County part is now delayed.

Sure hope so!

[silverback1065]

296th is going to be interesting. there's a sizable cemetery really close to the intersection and a church.