Manhattan Road to close for ditch work

Friday, August 11, 2017

Travelers on one of the busiest Putnam County roads will have to seek an alternate route during daytime hours next week.

The Putnam County Highway Department has announced the closure of Manhattan Road from Antioch Church to U.S. 40 beginning on Tuesday, Aug. 15. County officials estimate the work will take three days.

Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts informed the Putnam County Commissioners of the closure on Monday, saying ditching crews would be working on the four-mile stretch of road.

While ditch work can often be done without a closure, Ricketts explained that the combination of traffic, curves and lack of shoulder on Manhattan Road simply make it unsafe to utilize a flagging crew.

Ricketts also gave the commissioners updates on a number of other upcoming road and bridge projects.

Having been awarded paving bids for a number of county road last month, Wabash Valley Asphalt will begin work around the end of August or beginning of September.

Work is set to begin at the end of the month on Bridge 150 on County Road 200 South between Zinc Mill Road and 10th Street.

For Bridge 215 in Cloverdale Township on Golf Course Road, work is set to begin at the end of September.

Ricketts also reported that a chip-and-seal crew had been at work in Washington Township, while paving was going on in the Heritage Lake area, with Bainbridge-Roachdale Road next on the list.

Finally, the highway supervisor also gave the results of a traffic count study at the entrance to the Putnam County Fair. Between July 20 and 31, approximately 40,000 cars entered the fairgrounds.

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  • The ditches on Manhattan road look fine...it's the road that needs resurfaced and widened all the way to 40. That's what they need to work on! Also, I saw an intersection in Reelsville resurfaced and sealed, that's the only work I see in Washington twp. Maybe the commissioner should elaborate a little bit more about what work was actually done.

    -- Posted by Countryguy on Sun, Aug 13, 2017, at 12:43 PM
  • Not sure what they mean by "closed". People can't leave their houses, no school busses or emergency vehicles? Let's figure out a way to do all the unneeded ditching without closing the road.

    -- Posted by Ben Dover on Mon, Aug 14, 2017, at 8:59 AM
  • Sure hope they let emergency vehicles through. That's a nightmare for any of them trying to go South.

    -- Posted by voiceofreason2 on Mon, Aug 14, 2017, at 11:46 AM
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