Despite inconvenience, work on Indianapolis Road progressing

As traffic moves essentially uninhibited along Indianapolis Road between Round Barn Road/10th Street and Veterans Memorial Highway, construction work continues in the busy East Side corridor. Substantial completion of the project is expected by Oct. 1.

Orange cones are in position. Heavy equipment is fully engaged. And dust is flying as a summertime facelift for one of Greencastle's busiest roadways remains on schedule.

Traveling through Greencastle's East Side may be a bit more tedious these days as construction work continues along Indianapolis Road east of the stoplight at Gas America and Taco Bell (10th Street/Round Barn Road).

The construction zone continues east to the stoplight at the entrance to the old Mallory Capacitor plant property (State Road 240/ Veterans Memorial Highway).

Repairing and upgrading Indianapolis Road is the mission of construction firm J.S. McCullough Excavating of Bainbridge as part of an almost half-million-dollar project that began Aug. 13.

The opening salvo of the $447,282 project involved installing a new drain tile completely under the roadway just west of the Veterans Highway intersection. That necessitated closing of the easternmost section of the work zone for a 24-hour period.

But other than that necessary road closing, Indianapolis Road is not expected to be fully shut down during the duration of the project, which is scheduled for substantial completion by Oct. 1.

Inconveniences will occur certainly. On Friday afternoon, for example, drivers could not turn directly into the Shoppes of Greencastle center (Subway and Casa Grande, et al) for a time because of ongoing construction. Access, however, could be made to the strip center by using the nearby entrance to Dollar General and Buffalo Wild Wings and cutting across the parking lots.

"The contractor is trying his darnedest to keep areas open for business," Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray assured Friday.

The Indianapolis Road project also includes additional drainage work along the south side of the roadway, as well as repairs to the three lanes of pavement, installation of curbs and gutters and resurfacing of the portion of the People Pathways trail that runs along the south side of the street.

"The pathway will be resurfaced," Mayor Murray said, noting it was "suffering as a result of the water being on it."

A major portion of the project is designed to significantly upgrade the south edge of the Indianapolis Road pavement. For what has been the far right lane the past several years was once essentially just the thin berm of a two-lane state highway (240) before that section of roadway came under city jurisdiction and was widened to three lanes.

"A much-needed improvement" is how Mayor Murray assessed the long-awaited roadwork.

"This will leave just one section of Indianapolis Road to deal with," she told the City Council recently, "from Kroger to 10th Street, including sidewalks (along the north side). But not this year, not now, not yet."

While substantial completion of the East Side project is due this fall, it will be next spring before the job is totally finished since grass can't be planted along the roadside in the affected area until then.

City officials are confident that McCullough Excavating can meet all the prescribed deadlines, especially after having a positive experience working with the company on the recent renovation of Edgewood Lake Road.

McCullough brought that project in "within budget and by deadline," the mayor praised.