Indiana Notes

[Life in Paradise]

When I was growing up, Indiana's sales tax was 4%.  It has slowly inched up to 7% plus in some areas there is a food/entertainment tax of a percent, so sales tax on those items is 8%, so obviously the state has split several times.

FAB is 2% in Marion County for a total of 9%.

Didn't realize that Marion County was that high; I should have expected that, though.

1% is from the 80's to pay for the no-longer-existing Hoosier Dome/RCA Dome. The other 1% is to pay for Lucas Oil Stadium. They never repealed the original tax.

Evansville did the same thing with their 1% tax that was created in the 80s for building their new airport.  It was supposed to go away when it was paid off.  Somehow it always gets another purpose and is still in existence.

[ITB]

The official bid results of INDOT's May 7th regular letting were released earlier this month. Notable awards include:

• Contract R-35981-A
Added Travel Lanes, Kennedy Avenue, from Junction Avenue to North Oak Street, Lake County
$16,480,171.64, F. H. Paschen and S. N. Nielsen & Associates, Chicago, IL

• Contract R-46048-A
Pavement Patching, I-65, from 0.45 Mile South of US 30 to 0.62 Mile N of I-80, Lake County
$6,469,555.42, Superior Construction Co., Inc., Portage, IN

• Contract B-41455-A
Bridge Replacement, US 41, over Patoka River, 2.95 Miles N of SR 64, Gibson County
$10,621,674.73, Beaty Construction, Inc.,  Boggstown, IN

• Contract B-41844-A
New bridge/grade separation, Tipton Street over Norfork Southern Railroad, LaPorte County
$11,592,365.13, F. H. Paschen and S. N. Nielsen & Associates, Chicago, IL

• Contract B-41850-A
New bridge construction/grade separation, Kennedy Avenue, from 1.5 Miles N of US 30 to 4.4 Miles S of I-80, Lake County
$17,446,034.09, F. H. Paschen and S. N. Nielsen & Associates, Chicago, IL

• Contract B-43636-A
Bridge and road replacement, US 20, over Kennedy Avenue and IHB RR, 0.99 Mile E of SR 152, Lake County
$12,187,142.42, Superior Construction Co., Inc., Portage, IN

• Contract B-43793-A
Bridge Replacement, SR 32, over Mill Creek 3.7 Miles west of SR 47, Montgomery County
$5,569,000.00, William Charles Construction Co., LLC, Rockford, IL

• Contract T-42653-A
Install Lighting, I-64, various locations/counties
$9,325,361.00, Ragle, Inc., Newburgh, IN

• Contract B-42231-B
Replace superstructure/bridge deck overlay, SR 46, over Jack's Defeat Creek, 6.04 Miles west of SR 37, Monroe County
$4,050,000.00, E & B Paving, Inc., Anderson, IN

[ITB]

In other letting news, the bid results of INDOT's special May 14th letting are now official. Of the three contracts let, the most significant was Contract R-41079-A, which involves the upgrading of a segment of US 30 in Allen County.

Milestone Contractors, LP, was awarded the contract with a winning bid of $50,912,301.82.

The project will include the construction of a diverging diamond interchange at Flaugh Road; the removal of the traffic light at Kroemer Road and replacing with a median, allowing only RIRO access from US 30; constructing an overpass at O'Day Road and removing US 30 access; and closing the Stahlhut Road intersection at US 30. California Road also will be improved with roundabouts at Flaugh Road and Kroemer Road.

This is the first of likely many projects to upgrade US 30 between the Indiana/Ohio state line and the city of Valparaiso during the next 10-15 years.

[silverback1065]

that's cool US 30 won't have signals from the county line to I-69. looks like there's an abandoned rest stop along the corridor, I wonder why it disappeared.

[KelleyCook]

Evansville did the same thing with their 1% tax that was created in the 80s for building their new airport.  It was supposed to go away when it was paid off.  Somehow it always gets another purpose and is still in existence.

Nothing more permanent than a temporary tax without an end date.

[tdindy88]

I was up in the South Bend area over the holiday weekend and noticed that they had redone the signage along the St. Joseph Valley Parkway and added exit numbers along the stretch from at least the St. Joseph-Elkhart County line up to the Michigan border.


Exit 86 with SR 331 north in Mishawaka. Some of the older signs were a bit funky as they moving of SR 331 must have been a newer development. The new signs are cleaner, though I don't know why they don't feature Capital Avenue on the sign which I believe is the name of the road to the north. Elm Road only applies to the south of the interchange.


Exit 84 for SR 331 south in Mishawaka. Both Exits 84 and 86 have auxilary signage for Mishawaka and Exit 84 also has Bremen listed.


Exit 82 for Ironwood Drive.


Exit 79 for Michigan Street and US 31 south. I love seeing both Plymouth and Indianapolis on the signs here, as they always have been.


Exit 76 for SR 23 for North Liberty and South Bend. Ran into some thick traffic for a mile or two right in this area on Friday, I'm guessing from Indiana traffic heading up north to Michigan. I suppose I would have thought that US 31's exit numbers would continue going north but they're still using US 20's instead, the mile markers based on the distance from Whiting, Indiana.


Exit 73 for SR 2 west and Western Avenue.


No exit numbers yet at the US 20 west interchange, but I guess it will be Exit 71. So I'm guessing this is still a work in progress. From where on north I assume they will return to US 31's exit numbers.


The Brick Road/Cleveland Road interchange in the northbound direction does have an exit number though. US 31 is now 256 miles north of the George Rogers Clark Bridge over the Ohio River. Notably there's no exit number southbound on US 31 as of yet. It also appears that they've been doing some work on US 31 around the Toll Road interchange with new pavement.

[The Ghostbuster]

I'm happy the US 20/31 Saint Joseph Valley Parkway around the South Bend area is finally getting exit numbers. Hopefully more unnumbered exits around the state of Indiana get numbers as well.

[NWI_Irish96]

Exit 86 with SR 331 north in Mishawaka. Some of the older signs were a bit funky as they moving of SR 331 must have been a newer development. The new signs are cleaner, though I don't know why they don't feature Capital Avenue on the sign which I believe is the name of the road to the north. Elm Road only applies to the south of the interchange.


Exit 76 for SR 23 for North Liberty and South Bend. Ran into some thick traffic for a mile or two right in this area on Friday, I'm guessing from Indiana traffic heading up north to Michigan. I suppose I would have thought that US 31's exit numbers would continue going north but they're still using US 20's instead, the mile markers based on the distance from Whiting, Indiana.

Yes, IN 331 used to continue north on Bremen Hwy through downtown Mishawaka, ending at McKinley Ave. A few years after the rest of the US 20 bypass was built, 331 got rerouted onto Elm Rd/Capital Ave. However, the road isn't known as Capital Ave until a bit farther north. Immediately north of the US 20 interchange it's know only as IN 331.

As for US 20 mileage, the route crosses into Indiana via Indianapolis Blvd in Hammond, not Whiting. Whiting does not touch the state line.

[tdindy88]

Exit 86 with SR 331 north in Mishawaka. Some of the older signs were a bit funky as they moving of SR 331 must have been a newer development. The new signs are cleaner, though I don't know why they don't feature Capital Avenue on the sign which I believe is the name of the road to the north. Elm Road only applies to the south of the interchange.


Exit 76 for SR 23 for North Liberty and South Bend. Ran into some thick traffic for a mile or two right in this area on Friday, I'm guessing from Indiana traffic heading up north to Michigan. I suppose I would have thought that US 31's exit numbers would continue going north but they're still using US 20's instead, the mile markers based on the distance from Whiting, Indiana.

Yes, IN 331 used to continue north on Bremen Hwy through downtown Mishawaka, ending at McKinley Ave. A few years after the rest of the US 20 bypass was built, 331 got rerouted onto Elm Rd/Capital Ave. However, the road isn't known as Capital Ave until a bit farther north. Immediately north of the US 20 interchange it's know only as IN 331.

As for US 20 mileage, the route crosses into Indiana via Indianapolis Blvd in Hammond, not Whiting. Whiting does not touch the state line.

Oops, I forgot Hammond went that far north. I didn't know that history about the Capital Ave name, I guess signing it just SR 331 north is the right move.

[theline]

I'm happy the US 20/31 Saint Joseph Valley Parkway around the South Bend area is finally getting exit numbers. Hopefully more unnumbered exits around the state of Indiana get numbers as well.

I long thought that some motorists might be confused by seeing multiple exits being signed as "South Bend" with no other indicator. Exit numbers help clarify things.

[NWI_Irish96]

Exit 86 with SR 331 north in Mishawaka. Some of the older signs were a bit funky as they moving of SR 331 must have been a newer development. The new signs are cleaner, though I don't know why they don't feature Capital Avenue on the sign which I believe is the name of the road to the north. Elm Road only applies to the south of the interchange.


Exit 76 for SR 23 for North Liberty and South Bend. Ran into some thick traffic for a mile or two right in this area on Friday, I'm guessing from Indiana traffic heading up north to Michigan. I suppose I would have thought that US 31's exit numbers would continue going north but they're still using US 20's instead, the mile markers based on the distance from Whiting, Indiana.

Yes, IN 331 used to continue north on Bremen Hwy through downtown Mishawaka, ending at McKinley Ave. A few years after the rest of the US 20 bypass was built, 331 got rerouted onto Elm Rd/Capital Ave. However, the road isn't known as Capital Ave until a bit farther north. Immediately north of the US 20 interchange it's know only as IN 331.

As for US 20 mileage, the route crosses into Indiana via Indianapolis Blvd in Hammond, not Whiting. Whiting does not touch the state line.

Oops, I forgot Hammond went that far north. I didn't know that history about the Capital Ave name, I guess signing it just SR 331 north is the right move.

Capital Avenue was the name of Elm Road once it entered the Mishawaka city limits at 12th Street. It originally ended at Lincolnway and then was extended over the river to Jefferson. Shortly after the new terrain construction from Jefferson up to Cleveland, 331 got rerouted onto it north of US 20. The final bit of construction was a new terrain route between US 20 and Lincolnway that included an underpass under the RR tracks just south of Lincolnway. That segment was just called SR 331 while some original segments of Elm Road continue to exist and serve local traffic.

[ITB]

Earlier this week, Kurt of the YouTube channel Trucking With Schmidt posted a video in which he traveled the Indiana Toll Road. He was not charmed by the toll charge, to say the least.

At around the 11:15 mark his frustration boils over. To be fair, it's entirely understandable. The toll amount ... well, let's just say, it was a good chunk of change.

And, in another Trucking With Schmidt video uploaded last year, Kurt is north of Indianapolis heading west on SR 28 when he encounters a small city that will impose a $1500 fine if he drives through it. Can you guess the city?

[silverback1065]

Earlier this week, Kurt of the YouTube channel Trucking With Schmidt posted a video in which he traveled the Indiana Toll Road. He was not charmed by the toll charge, to say the least.

At around the 11:15 mark his frustration boils over. To be fair, it's entirely understandable. The toll amount ... well, let's just say, it was a good chunk of change.

And, in another Trucking With Schmidt video uploaded last year, Kurt is north of Indianapolis heading west on SR 28 when he encounters a small city that will impose a $1500 fine if he drives through it. Can you guess the city?

  tipton?

[seicer]

In Tipton, Indiana, a truck ban applies to vehicles with a gross weight of 26,000 pounds or more, and a violation can result in a $1,500 fine for a fourth violation or more. Each day a violation occurs is considered a separate offense. Additionally, violations of permits can result in civil penalties ranging from $1,000 for the first violation to $1,500 for subsequent violations.

This prohibition does not apply to state roads or to any roads that are approved. These restrictions are well signed: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kMUyEjd6uBinG2qT6 

[KelleyCook]

Its odd that they didn't add another BGS on the gantry with US-31 North/US-20 West along with the Niles/Michigan City, instead of leaving that hardly readable assurance marker in the median.

Exit 79 for Michigan Street and US 31 south. I love seeing both Plymouth and Indianapolis on the signs here, as they always have been.

[ITB]

Earlier this week, Kurt of the YouTube channel Trucking With Schmidt posted a video in which he traveled the Indiana Toll Road. He was not charmed by the toll charge, to say the least.

At around the 11:15 mark his frustration boils over. To be fair, it's entirely understandable. The toll amount ... well, let's just say, it was a good chunk of change.

$72 ... that was the toll charge. I'll admit I was a bit shocked at how high it was. Wow. That's a significant hit to the wallet for an independent trucker. No wonder it set Kurt off. The toll is rather steep too for a two-axle passenger vehicle to cross the state: $15.50 cash, $15.54 E-ZPass.

Indiana Toll Road calculator

[monty]

One of my trucks paid over $350 on the PA Turnpike out and back. That will not happen again.

[silverback1065]

One of my trucks paid over $350 on the PA Turnpike out and back. That will not happen again.

my goodness! how long were you on the turnpike? the entire length?

[Rothman]

One of my trucks paid over $350 on the PA Turnpike out and back. That will not happen again.

my goodness! how long were you on the turnpike? the entire length?

For both directions, you get into class 3 semis with even a normal height and the toll gets to be $200 fairly quickly from OH to Philly.  No E-ZPass (which, have to say, they should have had one...talk about pinching pennies if they didn't to spite one's face...) doubles the toll.

[TheCatalyst31]

One of my trucks paid over $350 on the PA Turnpike out and back. That will not happen again.

my goodness! how long were you on the turnpike? the entire length?

For both directions, you get into class 3 semis with even a normal height and the toll gets to be $200 fairly quickly from OH to Philly.  No E-ZPass (which, have to say, they should have had one...talk about pinching pennies if they didn't to spite one's face...) doubles the toll.

Speaking of which, it's annoying that Indiana doesn't give E-ZPass users a discount when most states do. I know some states like New York only give you a discount if you use an in-state E-ZPass, but Indiana doesn't even do that I don't think.

[I-55]

One of my trucks paid over $350 on the PA Turnpike out and back. That will not happen again.

my goodness! how long were you on the turnpike? the entire length?

For both directions, you get into class 3 semis with even a normal height and the toll gets to be $200 fairly quickly from OH to Philly.  No E-ZPass (which, have to say, they should have had one...talk about pinching pennies if they didn't to spite one's face...) doubles the toll.

Speaking of which, it's annoying that Indiana doesn't give E-ZPass users a discount when most states do. I know some states like New York only give you a discount if you use an in-state E-ZPass, but Indiana doesn't even do that I don't think.

Not only that but it's actually more expensive (albeit by 2-3 cents).