US 31 reconstruction, 126522

Legal Notice Of
Public Hearing

The Indiana Department of Transportation will hold two public hearings to offer all interested persons an opportunity to comment on current design plans for the proposed US 31 road reconstruction from within the City of Seymour at the intersection of US 31 and US 50 continuing north to CR 50N located just south and east from the City of Columbus in Jackson and Bartholomew Counties. The total project length is about 17.92 miles.

The first public hearing opportunity will be on Monday, November 16, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Clifty Creek Elementary Cafeteria located at 4625 E. 50 N., Columbus, Indiana.

A second opportunity will be on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. at the Indiana Department of Transportation Seymour District office located at 185 Agrico Lane, Seymour, Indiana.

This project is to improve US 31 from approximately 1,300 feet south of the intersection of US 31 and US 50 to south of Bartholomew County Road 50 North for a distance of 17.92 miles. The plan is to improve the roadway by adding left and right turn lanes, widen the shoulders, modify spot areas of the vertical alignment and improve the intersections. The horizontal alignment will remain unchanged. Drainage structures less than 20 feet spans are planned to be replaced. The intersection of US 31 and US 50 and US 31 and SR 7 are signalized intersections and will be upgraded. These intersections will have added turn lanes and the signals modified to account for the number of lanes at each intersection. All signs will be upgraded on this project.

There are six bridges included in this project. Four of the bridges are to be replaced. The brides that are planned to be replaced include the bridges over the CSX railroad bridge. Sand Creek, over Fishers Fork and Quade Ditch. Two other bridges are going to be widened. The bridges that are planned to be widened include the bridge over Sandy Branch and Clarence Hall Ditch. The bridges will accommodate the new road and shoulder widths. The bridge over Little Sand Creek has no work planned.

The Maintenance of Traffic is in the planning stage. The current plan is to close US 31 except for local traffic and use the official detour route to US 50 to I-65 to US 31. Phasing of this project is being considered.

The Right of Way required for this project is 58.6 acres of permanent and 2.7 acres of temporary. There are also nine relocations in this project.

The tentative timetables for right-of-way acquisition and construction will be discussed during the formal presentation. Public statements for the record will be taken after the presentation. Individuals interested in participating in the public statement session may sign the speaker’s schedule prior to the presentation.

All comments collected before, during and for a period of two (2) weeks after the hearing will be evaluated and addressed in the final design study report. Before and after the formal presentation, the plans will be available for anyone interested in talking to the engineers about the project. Conversations will not be part of the official record.

In accordance with the “Americans with Disabilities Act”, if you have a disability for which the Indiana Department of Transportation needs to provide accommodations, please call the Public Hearings office at (317) 232-6601, by Monday, November 9, 2009.

The environment document and preliminary design plans along with other materials on the project are available for viewing in the following offices:

1. Hearings Examiner, Room N642, Indiana Government Center North, 100 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2216, Phone #(317) 234-0796

2. Planning & Programming Department, Indiana Department of Transportation district office at 185 Agrico Lane, Seymour, Indiana 47274, Phone #(812) 522-5649

3. Bartholomew County Auditor, Government Office Bldg., 440 Third Street, Columbus, Indiana 47201, Phone #(812) 379-5320

This notice is published in compliance with Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Section 771 (CFR 771.111(h)(1) sates: “Each State must have procedures approved by the FHWA to carry out a public involvement/public hearing program.” 23 CFR 450.212(a)(7) states: “Public involvement procedures shall provide for periodic review of the effectiveness of the public involvement process to ensure that the process provides full and open access to all and revision of the process as necessary.” Approved by the Federal Highway Administration, U.s. Department of Transportation on April 1, 2009.

Indiana Department of Transportation, Mary Jackman, Public Hearings Examiner, Phone #(317) 234-0796, E-Mail: MJACKMAN@indot.IN.gov.

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