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Some better news on road construction homefront
There’s better news -- let’s not call it good news just yet -- on the major U.S. 231 reconstruction project bringing Greencastle to essentially a standstill these days.
Mayor Lynda Dunbar, speaking to the Greencastle Redevelopment Commission at its June meeting, reported that she now expects Washington Street -- the portion that is entirely shut down for the INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) construction work right now -- to be finished in late July or maybe early August.
That is much better than the recent contents of an INDOT letter that listed “an estimated completion date of Nov. 1” and a total closure time for the project of 137 days.
Dunbar said the Nov. 1 date should really be interpreted as the length of the project detours, both official and unofficial. The unofficial detour has been listed by INDOT as U.S. 231 to Frazier Street to Madison Street to Walnut Street to South Jackson Street and finally over to Veterans Memorial Highway for southbound vehicles. The official state detour is over U.S. 36, State Road 75, State Road 240 and U.S. 40.
One thing’s for certain, the mayor said, “Washington Street will be open two ways before they close (U.S.) 231 at the railroad tracks.”
The stretch of road from Bloomington Street to the courthouse square and around to Franklin Street was closed in its entirety just last Tuesday. By noon this Monday, major progress was obvious with removal of the asphalt layer accomplished completely on the west side of the square.
The new waterline that runs between the courthouse and Bloomington Street is in place and has had water flowing through it although it will not actually be in use until the project is done and water testing is complete.
If INDOT and contractor Rieth-Riley had closed the entire section of Washington Street when the project began back in April, Mayor Dunbar reasoned, “they might be done by now.”
From the railroad tracks on is about a 40-day project, the mayor noted.
Plans are to then come back up Jackson Street and finish the project up, two blocks at a time without closing it down, she said.
Either flaggers will be used or perhaps a temporary traffic signal set up to help traffic flow, Dunbar advised.
If that can get done promptly, Dunbar hopes to see “August go back to normalcy.”
Meanwhile, RDC members Ericka Gilmore, Brice LeBlanc and new panelist Eric Birt also heard an update on construction at the Putnam County YMCA site.
Mayor Dunbar said work “is coming along” on the $28.8 million project on the city’s East Side. Tonn and Blank Construction will soon be starting work on the inside, she added.
“They’re hoping to make up some time,” Dunbar said with a completion date hopefully moving closer to the first of the year.
Originally the target date was seen as Jan. 1 with the YMCA hoping to capture extra memberships through the typical New Year’s resolutions’ attention to diet and exercise. Thus the work is running about six weeks behind due to past water problems and then steel issues.
The mayor added that word on the Lilly Endowment grant being sought by DePauw University that could result in the addition of an indoor pool to the YMCA facility is now expected by the end of July.
“If they get the Lilly grant, we’ll know if we’ll be able to get a pool going,” the mayor added. “If not, we may not be able to do a pool.”
The RDC also approved one change order on the YMCA project, approving $1,474 for a piece of steel that goes about an overhead door.
Initially, the mayor said, the cost included approximately $900 in shipping fees. For that, she said she told the contractors, she’d drive over and pick it up or send one of the Street Department guys for it. They relented and reduced the cost to the $1,474 approved unanimously by the RDC.
As a result, the new maximum guaranteed price, including the change order, is $28,834,812.
In another report, Dunbar advised the RDC that the city will be going for a Community Crossings grant to upgrade East Washington Street from Wood Street to Percy Julian Drive. Surveyors were out there last week collecting data. The RDC may have to contribute to the city’s matching portion if the grant is approved.
The mayor said city officials want to “put the street on a diet,” significantly narrowing it to avoid further resurfacing expenses.
Originally, thoughts were to put a sidewalk along the north side of the street and have sidewalks on both side of Washington. However, Dunbar noted, “there are people on the north side (of the street) who do not want sidewalks on both sides.”
Thought was also given to creating a boulevard with trees and a grassy strip in the median. That idea has been rejected.
In relation to that project, the mayor also said she will be meeting with Greencastle Schools officials to see what can be done to keep traffic from backing up down Washington Street during student pick-up time.
With RDC President Gilmore, LeBlanc and Birt on hand along with Mayor Dunbar, members Stacie Langdon and Kevin Verhoff were absent.
Birt was sworn in by the mayor at the outset of the meeting. He succeeds Cody Eckert who resigned due to a move out of town.
Birt, who retired last year from Lone Star/Buzzi-Unicem after 33 years, spent the past 12 years as a chemical analyst. He was the unanimous appointment of the City Council, which had also considered Wayne Lewis and Gary Lemon as possibilities.
The RDC will next meet in regular session at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 24 at City Hall.