Redesigning U.S. 31

<p><strong>M</strong>ultiple accidents, including pedestrians struck by vehicles, are prompting a significant change to a major Franklin highway.</p><p>The Indiana Department of Transportation and the city are working on a plan that would redesign U.S. 31 through the city, and also add trails and safer pedestrian crossings.</p><p>The project is estimated to cost between $40 million and $50 million, with the majority of that cost paid by the state.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>Work could begin as soon as 2021 on the project that would eliminate multiple left turns, rerouting traffic to turn around and come back to make a right turn, according to preliminary designs.</p><p>The project would make the highway safer for traffic and for pedestrians, which has been a key focus for Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett, he said.</p><p>City officials have been pushing for upgrades to the highway to make it safer for pedestrians, who often walk along the shoulders to get to shopping and restaurants from homes in the area.</p><p>With that push in mind and a need to rebuild a drainage pipe under the road to help prevent flooding from Canary Ditch, state officials decided to upgrade the road as well, Barnett said.</p><p>Preliminary design work recently began, and shows trails on both sides of the highway, along with several left turns eliminated. Instead, traffic would be rerouted to turn around and go back in the other direction to make a right turn into the side street or business.</p><p>Other design options are possible, such as added turn lanes, said Hillary Lowther, traffic engineer for the state department of transportation Seymour district.</p><p>The overall goal is to make the highway safer for both pedestrians and vehicles, she said.</p><p>Currently, U.S. 31 has significant traffic congestion at peak hours, and multiple intersections have high crash rates, Lowther said. By helping traffic move better, that will help reduce accidents, she said.</p><p>Westview Drive has had high crash rates for years, which is definitely a concern, Barnett said.</p><p>And in his 10 years with city government, multiple pedestrians have also been struck, and some have been killed, which is a major concern, he said. That issue is also important since two Franklin schools are located along the highway, and students walk and bike to school, he said.</p><p>“Trails make it much safer for pedestrians, and that is a big concern for me and the city,” Barnett said.</p><p>The project could begin as soon as 2021, if the state gets a grant it is applying for, and if not, then it would start in 2023, Lowther said.</p><p>That would mean that as work was wrapping up on other gateways into the city, including Jefferson and King streets and South Main Street, work would be preparing to start on U.S. 31, Barnett said. In addition to the road work, plans also call for added greenspace and decorative lighting to match other recently redone gateways into the city.</p><p>Work would be done in sections, and the highway would not be closed so traffic can continue to get to businesses, Barnett said.</p><p>But planning the project will also take a significant amount of time, he said.</p><p>“It does take a long time in planning. We have to start planning now for the future. If we don’t plan now, then it will never happen,” Barnett said.</p><p>The project is a partnership between the city and state, Lowther said.</p><p>This week, the Franklin Redevelopment Commission approved setting aside $100,000 for environmental studies and design work. The city will be responsible for about 10 percent of the project costs, and officials are looking at that money coming from the tax-increment financing, or TIF, district set up along U.S. 31 to set aside tax dollars when new businesses are built.</p><p>The project is costly, with much of the cost being in buying the land needed since so many businesses have developed along U.S. 31, Lowther said.</p><p>Members of the redevelopment commission also want to research the cost of burying utility lines, avoiding above-ground electric lines and a pedestrian bridge to help traffic cross U.S. 31.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="At a glance" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>The state is looking at redesigning U.S. 31 through Franklin. Here is a look at what is being considered:</p><p>Trails: Walking trails for pedestrians on both sides of the highway</p><p>Crosswalks: Safer pedestrian crossings across U.S. 31</p><p>Left turns: Designers are looking at ways to limit left turns by instead rerouting traffic in certain areas to turn around, and then turn right into their destination</p><p>Improvements: Added greenspace and new street lights to make the highway look similar to other recently redone gateways into the city</p><p>Drainage: A larger drainage pipe is planned for Canary Ditch, which runs under the highway, to address flooding issues on the north side of the city</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]