IN: US 31 South Bend to Plymouth Upgrade report

[NWI_Irish96]

INDOT apparently applied to AASHTO quite awhile ago for US 31 to be added as I-67, however it was rejected because Michigan did not agree. The preferred route for what Indiana wanted for I-67 was US 31 north to Elkhart, then connecting to US 131 and into Michigan along US 131. An alternate was to continue north along US 31 to I-196 and then to US 131 and north. Michigan surprisingly enough did not want to add I-67 though so it never got approved. Furthermore, if Michigan does not want to add I-67, I do not see any real need for I-67 in Indiana since it would only connect Indianapolis to Kokomo and Elkhart. US 31 has worked for many years so far and will in the future as well.

How exactly would I-67 get from US 31 to US 131? 

[I94RoadRunner]

This was by overtaking I-196 northward to US 131 in downtown Grand Rapids. I-67 was thought in this alternative to go north along US 131 replacing the hidden I-296 and then northward back and back to I-75 south of Vanderbilt. Michigan does at this point has shelved the US 131 freeway north of Manton, therefore the furthest north I-67 could go would be Grand Rapids.

Also, there is apparently a new lawsuit filed recently regarding the section of US 31 near Benton Harbor trying to prevent the freeway from ever going any further north of Napier Ave. Obviously this would stop I-67 from going into Michigan in the first place should this be true. I have researched this and have not found anything yet however will post information if I do find anything.

Maybe an good alternative is to widen Napier Ave to 6 lanes between US 31 and I-94 and just be done with it. There really is no need for the freeway to be finished if Napier is built to handle the traffic. Probably better than fighting all of the environmentalists standing in the way .....?

[silverback1065]

INDOT apparently applied to AASHTO quite awhile ago for US 31 to be added as I-67, however it was rejected because Michigan did not agree. The preferred route for what Indiana wanted for I-67 was US 31 north to Elkhart, then connecting to US 131 and into Michigan along US 131. An alternate was to continue north along US 31 to I-196 and then to US 131 and north. Michigan surprisingly enough did not want to add I-67 though so it never got approved. Furthermore, if Michigan does not want to add I-67, I do not see any real need for I-67 in Indiana since it would only connect Indianapolis to Kokomo and Elkhart. US 31 has worked for many years so far and will in the future as well.

How exactly would I-67 get from US 31 to US 131?

Only thing I could think of is an extension of US 20's freeway and upgrading SR 13 to a freeway, or just having it multiplex with the toll road and upgrading the tiny piece of 131 in Indiana.  Since Michigan never has money to do anything meaningful to their roads, I doubt they would ever upgrade their portions to make that work.  And for Indiana to do the two upgrades I mentioned would be crazy, and unnecessary. 

[tdindy88]

that's never going to happen 67 south of 465 is useless

I don't get it, SR "67" is a decent divided highway that connects Indianapolis with Mooresville and Martinsville and provides a nice alternative route to SR 37 from Martinsville to I-465.....oh you meant I-67.

[theline]

Quite a bit of progress within the last week at the North tie-in.  Asphalt has been set down on the entirety of the new northbound lanes.   I can most assuredly buy this tie-in will be complete by the end of the year.  Seems as if they will have this done before Thanksgiving, although I admittedly don't know what else needs done, especially with a quick look at 45 mph.

All of the exit signs for the US 6 exit have been replaced, both directions.  Last weekend the orange signs were still up.  I cannot recall what other signs were down.

Hard to see much obvious progress at the South tie-in.  I'm sure its being made, but my novice eye behind the wheel doesn't see all that much different over the past few weeks.  This project looks to go well in to 2015 to my untrained and uneducated eye.

I just drove the route again on Saturday (10/24). I'd agree with ysuindy that all lanes should be open on the north tie-in before the end of the year. That's where traffic is heaviest, so this is really good news. As for the south end, we saw that some work was being done on Saturday, but we doubt that all lanes will be open this year. The new Plymouth exit (7th Road?) looks to be a long way from completion. I'd say it will be far into the 2015 season before it's done.

I noticed one signage error, though I didn't get a picture. While northbound on old 31, just south of the US 6 intersection, I saw the advance signs that looked like this:

     West   East
        US     US     US
        6       6        31
      <--     -->     -->

US 31 is about 1/2 mile to the east at that point, so I think there should have been a "TO" banner above the US 31 shield. Maybe this signage is temporary.

[silverback1065]

Quite a bit of progress within the last week at the North tie-in.  Asphalt has been set down on the entirety of the new northbound lanes.   I can most assuredly buy this tie-in will be complete by the end of the year.  Seems as if they will have this done before Thanksgiving, although I admittedly don't know what else needs done, especially with a quick look at 45 mph.

All of the exit signs for the US 6 exit have been replaced, both directions.  Last weekend the orange signs were still up.  I cannot recall what other signs were down.

Hard to see much obvious progress at the South tie-in.  I'm sure its being made, but my novice eye behind the wheel doesn't see all that much different over the past few weeks.  This project looks to go well in to 2015 to my untrained and uneducated eye.

I just drove the route again on Saturday (10/24). I'd agree with ysuindy that all lanes should be open on the north tie-in before the end of the year. That's where traffic is heaviest, so this is really good news. As for the south end, we saw that some work was being done on Saturday, but we doubt that all lanes will be open this year. The new Plymouth exit (7th Road?) looks to be a long way from completion. I'd say it will be far into the 2015 season before it's done.

I noticed one signage error, though I didn't get a picture. While northbound on old 31, just south of the US 6 intersection, I saw the advance signs that looked like this:

     West   East
        US     US     US
        6       6        31
      <--     -->     -->

US 31 is about 1/2 mile to the east at that point, so I think there should have been a "TO" banner above the US 31 shield. Maybe this signage is temporary.

Sounds like it's just the old signs and they added a right arrow sign below the 31, replacing the old straight arrow.

[theline]

^^ I'll bet you've got it. They still should add a "TO" banner, and perhaps they will.

[I94RoadRunner]

that's never going to happen 67 south of 465 is useless

I don't get it, SR "67" is a decent divided highway that connects Indianapolis with Mooresville and Martinsville and provides a nice alternative route to SR 37 from Martinsville to I-465.....oh you meant I-67.

I would not really say useless but rather unnecessary. I-65 and I-69 will be sufficient. Owensboro could get an I-x65 or an I-x69 to connect to the interstate system. Oh wait, that is what I-169 is for along the Audubon Pkwy. Maybe once it gets signed then Owensboro will shut up about I-67 .....?

[MikeSantNY78]

INDOT apparently applied to AASHTO quite awhile ago for US 31 to be added as I-67, however it was rejected because Michigan did not agree. The preferred route for what Indiana wanted for I-67 was US 31 north to Elkhart, then connecting to US 131 and into Michigan along US 131. An alternate was to continue north along US 31 to I-196 and then to US 131 and north. Michigan surprisingly enough did not want to add I-67 though so it never got approved. Furthermore, if Michigan does not want to add I-67, I do not see any real need for I-67 in Indiana since it would only connect Indianapolis to Kokomo and Elkhart. US 31 has worked for many years so far and will in the future as well.

Saves the I-67 designation for the US 219 corridor as a shunt from I-68, grid placement be damned...

[02 Park Ave]

Is this US 31 upgrade being done in lieu of the long proposed, but never built, "Indiana North-South Toll Road"?

[NWI_Irish96]

Is this US 31 upgrade being done in lieu of the long proposed, but never built, "Indiana North-South Toll Road"?

I've never heard of such a thing.

[silverback1065]

Is this US 31 upgrade being done in lieu of the long proposed, but never built, "Indiana North-South Toll Road"?

me neither! do you have any info on this?

[theline]

My recollection is that the Indiana North-South Toll Road was a proposal from the pre-Interstate System days, when many DOTs were drawing up plans for numerous toll roads that were abandoned when the Interstate System was adopted. I vaguely recall seeing a map with the north-south road roughly paralleling US 41 from Gary to Evansville.

That's so far in the past that the US 31 upgrade can hardly be considered a "replacement," any more that a Lexus is a replacement for a Model T. Well, they're both cars.

[I94RoadRunner]

INDOT apparently applied to AASHTO quite awhile ago for US 31 to be added as I-67, however it was rejected because Michigan did not agree. The preferred route for what Indiana wanted for I-67 was US 31 north to Elkhart, then connecting to US 131 and into Michigan along US 131. An alternate was to continue north along US 31 to I-196 and then to US 131 and north. Michigan surprisingly enough did not want to add I-67 though so it never got approved. Furthermore, if Michigan does not want to add I-67, I do not see any real need for I-67 in Indiana since it would only connect Indianapolis to Kokomo and Elkhart. US 31 has worked for many years so far and will in the future as well.

Saves the I-67 designation for the US 219 corridor as a shunt from I-68, grid placement be damned...

US 219 possibly could be an interstate as far north as I-86, however from Salamanca north would not be possible the way the new US 219 north/I-86 interchange is planned to only be a diamond interchange and the Seneca Indians will never allow it to be upgraded.

[rickmeck]

Is there any way the moderator of this post can place all the recent posts about this into another thread? They have nothing to do with the subject at hand.

[Stephane Dumas]

My recollection is that the Indiana North-South Toll Road was a proposal from the pre-Interstate System days, when many DOTs were drawing up plans for numerous toll roads that were abandoned when the Interstate System was adopted. I vaguely recall seeing a map with the north-south road roughly paralleling US 41 from Gary to Evansville.

Is it this map from an archived copy of Mike Natale's toll roads website on Archive.org?
http://web.archive.org/web/20010210013003/www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~mn2n/tollun.html

[theline]

^^ That's not the map I saw, though it does include the northern part of the route I saw on another map. The map I saw extended the proposed road down to Evansville. Maybe I'll get motivated now to find that map.

[ysuindy]

Back to the original topic - I went to South Bend and back this weekend for the first time in five weeks.

My thoughts from my quick, uneducated looks at I drove through.

I think they are nearly complete on the north tie-in.  The new northbound lanes have been striped.  A few pieces of equipment left.  I imagine there is some work left, but I suspect they will have this opened prior to Thanksgiving.

There was a lot of progress at the south end.  The tie-in from the new road to the old in the south bound lanes seems to have most of the asphalt down.  The bridge being reconstructed just south of the tie-in still looks to have some work, but I can easily see this portion being done "by year-end."

The 7th Road interchange has also progressed.  The steel beams for the overpass are in place.  Grading of the northbound exit / entrance ramps looks complete or close to it, but no concrete poured.  Two way traffic remains in the southbound lanes.   

I do not see how the interchange is open before December 31, 2014, but I could see two lanes of traffic in each direction by December 31 or shortly thereafter.

The Lake Effect bomb that dropped 12 inches of snow had the South Bend airport last week had no accumulating snow at the south tie-in and it looked like less than 4 inches around Ireland Road and the north tie-in.  Hopefully the early on-set of cold weather does not delay construction.

I will be through there the next two weekends and will be checking progress.

[NWI_Irish96]

I will be through next weekend as well, though it will be dark so I won't be able to see much.

[silverback1065]

http://www.wsbt.com/video-and-photos/new-us-31-causing-drivers-to-speed-through-side-roads/29667890

people unhappy with changes around 31

[NWI_Irish96]

http://www.wsbt.com/video-and-photos/new-us-31-causing-drivers-to-speed-through-side-roads/29667890

people unhappy with changes around 31

Kern Road has been a major road for years, always with heavy traffic and people traveling well over the speed limit.  People just want to find an excuse to complain about the new highway. 

[theline]

^^ As a South Bend resident, I'd agree that traffic has always moved significantly faster than the limit along Kern. Fifteen to 20 over is excessive though. I'm not surprised that traffic is heavier on Kern now that drivers must use it coming and going from 31, when they formerly had their choice of other side streets like Roosevelt Road. I believe that the police can get the speeds under control with some continued enforcement. If they can get the speeds down, many drivers will seek other routes to the east such as the St. Joseph Valley Parkway or Jackson Road, accessed via Main St.

The report could have pointed out that several alternate routes, like Johnson Road, are still cut off as construction continues. When those are open, much of the local traffic congesting Kern will find an alternate.

[ysuindy]

Update from my Sunday November 30 trip back from South Bend

At the north tie in traffic the new northbound lanes are open.  There remains a small stretch of single lane traffic in the southbound lanes , a few hundred yards at most.

At the south tie in, the southbound lanes are open.  There is a single lane traffic each way under the 3A bridge.

Further South all traffic remains in the southbound lanes at the 7A interchange

I will be back in three weeks and will post any updates

[ysuindy]

I made the trip to South Bend the weekend before Christmas (and forgot to post) and again today.

There are two lanes of traffic in each direction open throughout the zone.  Construction is not complete on the 7A interchange as well as an overpass at the North end.  Before Christmas there was a small stretch of one lane traffic southbound at the North end in the middle of the interchange with the St Joseph Parkway /Bypass.

[theline]

I traveled the route again on Saturday, and noted that the two lanes remain open in both directions throughout the route. I suspect they will remain open until some closures become necessary as construction resumes in earnest in the spring. As mentioned by ysindy,  the remaining major items are the 7A
Road interchange and the Johnson Road overpass. I noticed additional signs up, including a supplemental sign noting that the US 6 exit should be taken for Lapaz.