US 31 Kokomo: Stimulus funding provides improvements to area highways

[mukade]

http://kokomotribune.com/local/x409207212/Stimulus-funding-provides-improvements-to-area-highways

[NWI_Irish96]

The US31 Kokomo bypass can't get finished soon enough.  I estimate that I have spent 2-3 days worth of time sitting at stoplights in Kokomo.

[mgk920]

The US31 Kokomo bypass can't get finished soon enough.  I estimate that I have spent 2-3 days worth of time sitting at stoplights in Kokomo.

Indiana has waaaaay too many of those old bypasses that were not built right to begin with, requiring them to again be bypassed (thinking of how much public treasure it would have saved in the long run to have built them right as full freeways to begin with    ).

Mike

[Cheesehead77]

The US31 Kokomo bypass can't get finished soon enough.  I estimate that I have spent 2-3 days worth of time sitting at stoplights in Kokomo.

We used to call it "Stop Light City" when we went through.  When was the current by-pass built?

[Cheesehead77]

The US31 Kokomo bypass can't get finished soon enough.  I estimate that I have spent 2-3 days worth of time sitting at stoplights in Kokomo.

Indiana has waaaaay too many of those old bypasses that were not built right to begin with, requiring them to again be bypassed (thinking of how much public treasure it would have saved in the long run to have built them right as full freeways to begin with    ).

Mike

So does WI, but, that is a discussion for another thread.  Actually, *any* "bypass" built to allow full access was a bad idea. 

[ShawnP]

Speaking of Indiana bypasses. One is needed badly on US-150 around Galena and Greenville in Floyd County. Traffic counts are high and there have been very bad accidents (one lately killed the Human Resources Director of the Louisville Courier Journal). INDOT wants to do it but said it has no money (yet can pay 77 million for I-69 enviromental mitigation nonsense). I say mitigation is nonsense because certain groups of people will complain no matter what INDOT does on I-69. So spend that money on needed projects like a US-150 bypass in Floyd County.

[froggie]

Mitigation is not nonsense.  Without mitigation, there isn't the project approval to begin with.  What's arguably nonsense is the state's overdevotion to a new alignment I-69 to begin with, when there are other pressing traffic needs elsewhere as you cite.

[mukade]

The US31 Kokomo bypass can't get finished soon enough.  I estimate that I have spent 2-3 days worth of time sitting at stoplights in Kokomo.

We used to call it "Stop Light City" when we went through.  When was the current by-pass built?

It was built in the 1950s. Although that one section shown is essentially done, the last contract won't be let until 2012. The bypass won't be opened in sections either. Currently, it is actually under construction from .5 mile south of SR 26 to about 3 miles north of SR 22 for a distance of about 8 miles.

[ShawnP]

I can see the sense of a new alignment of I-69 as it will save gas over time for SW Indiana residents and yes open new areas to growth. However mitagation is stuck in my craw. NIMBY's like CP, TT will never be happy with I-69 and no amount of mitagation will make them happy.

[mukade]

What's arguably nonsense is the state's overdevotion to a new alignment I-69 to begin with, when there are other pressing traffic needs elsewhere as you cite.

Why is the new alignment nonsense? That is clearly the best route. If US 41 were an expressway, maybe that route might be a minimally acceptable alternative, but there are a lot of driveways on that stretch. Add that to the fact that I-70 would have to be widened, and it should be clear that the US 41/I-70 option would be pretty expensive... and still be long. That is why no one uses it from Indy to Evansville now.

Besides that, the fact that IU will now be accessible by a fast, safe highway is as important as having the decent the Evansville-Indianapolis link.

[froggie]

I wasn't saying that the new alignment I-69 was nonsense.  What *IS* nonsense is that they're overfocusing on that corridor when there are other more pressing needs elsewhere.

[mukade]

I wasn't saying that the new alignment I-69 was nonsense.  What *IS* nonsense is that they're overfocusing on that corridor when there are other more pressing needs elsewhere.

OK, point taken. I believe they think it is now or never because the Major Moves windfall will not happen again. I would guess that I-465 improvements are costing more than I-69. The other two priorities equal to or above the I-69 project would be US 31 all the way from South Bend to Indy and the Illiana Expy. As it stands, only Hamilton County, Kokomo, and US-20 to US 30 are in the immediate plans for US 31 upgrade. I would maintain that the SR 25 upgrade from Lafayette to Logansport would be more worthy of an over-focused corridor that I-69. That road is being built about as fast as I-69, though only to expressway standards. Still, it ain't cheap as it is 100% new terrain.