Construction projects have hit several major Johnson County roadways this summer, and the end of many of those projects is in sight.
In Greenwood, most of the high-traffic-area work was on Main and Madison streets downtown, where drivers have used detours for the past few months as workers inched closer to completing wider brick sidewalks and a connected trail from Madison Avenue to Old City Park. The $4.2 million project is set for completion this fall, said Kevin Steinmetz, the city’s capital projects manager.
The westbound lane of Main Street, west of Madison Avenue, is also closed for a water main project to widen the main, that project is being done by Indiana American Water, making the timeline somewhat murkier.
The Madison Avenue portion of the project, along with Main Street between Madison Avenue and Meridian Street, are both city projects. Madison Avenue is on the verge of reopening, while the more eastern project on Main Street should be finished in early October, said Mark St. John, Greenwood city engineer.
“The (project) will rebuild roadways and add appropriate infrastructure, widen sidewalks, add a trail extension and beautify the area. Those are the main benefits of the city streetscape project,” St. John said.
Construction crews are also working on widening Worthsville Road between Averitt Road and Honey Creek Road, and are constructing a roundabout at the intersection of Honey Creek Road and Stones Crossing Road. The work is part of the third of four phases in the larger Worthsville Road project that will cost $9.6 million total, once complete.
The third section in the project started in the spring, and will also eliminate two 90-degree turns, with workers rebuilding a section of the road into an s-curve between Worthsville Road and Stones Crossing Road. The project eliminates a baseball field temporarily used by Greenwood Christian Academy, St. John said.
The grade for the road has been cut in, and the s-curve should be completed by the end of fall. The roundabout is much farther along and should be open to traffic in mid-October. The final phase of the Worthsville Road project, which includes work from Honey Creek Road to State Road 135, doesn’t have funding yet and thus doesn’t have a timeline for commencement or completion, he said.
Construction crews are also finishing street paving projects on neighborhood streets in Greenwood. Work is complete on Meridian Meadows and Stokley boulevards, which had curb work included, and paving projects have wrapped up at Patterson Street, Broadway Street and Pushville Road. Other road improvement projects, at Averitt Road, Sheek Road and Airport Parkway have been postponed due to unfavorable bid packages, St. John said.
In Edinburgh, milling and overlay projects on Campbell, Grant, Huff, Main, Thompson and Toner streets are in construction, part of $471,903 in Community Crossings grants. ADA sidewalk ramps are almost complete, while milling and paving has not yet been finished. A project to extend South Main Street south to County Road 900 South in Bartholomew County is in the design phase. Designs should be complete in February, interim town manager Wade Watson said in an email.
In Franklin, a $1.4 million roundabout at Commerce Drive and Graham Road is in its final weeks of construction. The project to build the roundabout started in May. Throughout this week, concrete will be poured for the roundabout, which will take about 9 to 10 days. The roundabout is set to open to traffic around Oct. 22, said Mark Richards, city engineer.
“This moves traffic more efficiently and increases safety,” Richards said. “Every other intersection along the truck route from King Street to Hurricane Road and Commerce Drive and Arvin Drive have been rebuilt with roundabouts over the past five years, in efforts to help with truck traffic.”
The final phase of Jim Black Road reconstruction will likely be completed in mid-October after a utility relocation delay. The project, which adds a center turn lane with asphalt shoulders, will result in the road being redone from State Road 144 to County Road 100 North, he said.
“We have a lot of warehouse construction going along both sides of Jim Black Road and the reconstruction is meant to handle that traffic,” Richards said.
Yandes Street reconstruction is a long-term project that will likely not be completed until Thanksgiving of next year, Richards said. The project is lengthy and involves relocating gas and water mains, and tearing up the street to completely rebuild it with concrete, stone and brick layers. Yandes Street and its intersections, including at King and Madison streets, are currently closed to thru traffic. Work and closures will continue on the road during the rest of the year-long time-frame for construction, Richards said.
The city is also working through about 20 other street projects. As of Friday, five had been completed: sections of Longest Drive, Adams Drive, Middleton Road, Hougham Street and King Street. Other streets, including South Street, Bartram Parkway, Bryant Street, Commerce Drive, Cumberland Drive, and Coburn Street, among others, have not yet been started on. Most road projects on neighborhood streets take between a few hours and a week to complete, and all projects should be finished by the end of October, he said.
