INDOT hosts I-70 meeting at SPHS
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will conduct four public informational meetings this coming week to help educate the public on the three Interstate 70 construction projects that will be restricting traffic from the Indiana/Illinois state line to Plainfield.
The Putnam County meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16 in the South Putnam High School cafeteria. Those attending are asked to enter the school via the back side of the building through Door No. 8.
Three more 6:30 p.m. public info meetings in the area are as follows:
Monday, Aug. 15 -- Brazil City Hall council room, 203 E. National Rd., Brazil.
Wednesday, Aug. 17 -- Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library, 1120 Stafford Rd., Plainfield.
Thursday, Aug. 18 -- Girl Scout Office in Fairbanks Park, 1100 Girl Scout Lane, Terre Haute.
"This work on I-70 is necessary due to the heavy trucks and volume of traffic that we have on this stretch of the interstate," INDOT Crawfordsville District Deputy Commissioner Alan Plunkett said. "We have some deterioration of the pavement and getting this done now doesn't prolong construction over several years."
Traffic will be restricted to one lane in several areas along this route, which covers the entire length of I-70 through Putnam County, as well as parts of four other counties. Motorists are encouraged to seek alternate routes.
Milestone Contractors was awarded the patch and rehabilitation project on I-70 from State Road 59 to just over two miles east of State Road 267 for $27.9 million.
The project may have three separate five-mile one-lane restrictions in both the eastbound and westbound lanes continuously.
The patching portion of this project is scheduled to be completed in late November of this year and finish next year with permanent pavement markings and grass seeding in May of 2012.
Wabash Valley Asphalt was awarded the asphalt resurfacing and bridge deck replacement project for $5.29 million. This contract will resurface the interstate from the state line to just west of the Wabash River Bridge.
It also includes replacing the deck and widening both the eastbound and westbound bridges over Southlake Road, located nearly three miles west of U.S. 41. This project is scheduled for completion next May. Currently, traffic is restricted to one lane in each direction in the eastbound lanes between Darwin Road, near mile marker 3 to the Wabash River Bridge near mile marker 5.
The final project on I-70 is a patch and rehabilitation project from the Wabash River Bridge to State Road 59. This project, awarded to Wabash Valley Asphalt for $4.3 million, is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Sept. 6. The project will have the interstate down to one lane in a four-mile work zone in both directions 24 hours a day Sunday at 9 p.m. until Friday at noon.
INDOT is encouraging motorists to seek alternate routes. Indiana residents are encouraged to utilize State Road 59 to U.S. 40 to State Road 267, and the reverse for traffic traveling in the opposite direction.