As warmer temperatures arrive in Johnson County, so do the traffic cones and barriers.
Summer is peak road construction season, and dozens of local and state projects will impact drivers traveling on roads through Johnson County. Numerous projects will repave, reseal, reconstruct roads around the county.
Here’s a look at projects from across the county, and when motorists could start seeing the work begin.
Greenwood
Twenty roads and 10 alleys will be improved as part of the city of Greenwood’s annual paving program — a $2 million investment, city officials announced last week.
For the 2024 paving project, a favorable bid and good financials have allowed the city to award a contract for both the base set of roads and the alternates, city officials said.
Residents can expect mill and overlay work along 20 roads throughout Greenwood:
- Brewer Street, from Pearl Street to Broadway Street
- Thomas Street, from Pearl Street to Broadway Street
- Middle Street, from Main Street to Lindsey Driveway north of Broadway Street
- Fairview Road, from State Road 135 to city limits
- Merry Lane, from Howard Road to dead end
- Royal St. Georges Drive, from Hacienda Place to dead end
- Troon Court, from Royal St. Georges Drive to dead end
- Turnberry Circle, from Royal St. Georges Drive to dead end
- St. Annes Court, from Royal St. Georges Drive to dead end
- Augusta Circle, from Royal St. Georges Drive to dead end
- Sayre Drive, from Emerson Avenue to dead end
- Sayre Court, from Sayre Drive to dead end
- Broadway Street, from railroad to Middle Street
- Averitt Road, from Apryl Drive to Stop 18 Road
- Wiley Street, from Madison Avenue to Meridian Street
- Short Street, from Noble Street north to stone
- Washington Street, from Broadway Street to Academy Street
- Academy Street, from railroad to Pleasant Street
- Pleasant Street, from Academy Street to Broadway Street
- Main Street, from Road Ranger entrance to Graham Road
The alternate bid is for County Road 125 West, from Stones Crossing Road to the city limits, officials said.
The 10 alleys being reconstructed are all in Old Town, city officials say. The project also includes a new pedestrian crossing of Honey Creek at Apryl Drive.
Leftover projects from last year’s Community Crossing grants are also set to continue this year, with work expected to be complete sometime in August, said Mark St. John, city engineer. The city’s annual paving project is also expected to be complete that month, he said.
The city is also planning improvements on Market Plaza. Sidewalks will be built on both sides of the street to connect Old City Park and City Center Park. Officials hope to award a contract for the project on May 14, with the project expected to take four months once it begins at a later date, St. John said.
An open house for area businesses and residents is planned for this project as well in late May, but an exact date has not been set, he said.
Planned roundabouts along Smith Valley Road at Averitt Road and Woodmen Boulevard will not see construction start until 2025. This is because of the large amount of utility relocations required for these projects, St. John said. One of the largest relocations will be Duke Energy, which will relocate overhead transmission lines on the south side of the roadway, he said.
Improvements are also planned for Cutsinger Road, with work planned for late summer or early fall. Additional details will be available later this year, St. John said.
A roundabout is expected to be constructed at County Line Road and Graham Road sometime in the next few years, but this is a city of Indianapolis project, not Greenwood.
Greenwood also now has an interactive map of road projects, which can be accessed at the city’s construction and traffic notices page, greenwood.in.gov/department/blocks-divisions.php?structureid=11#blockContent-257.
Franklin
Construction of two new roundabouts is planned in Franklin this summer, along with paving and crack sealing work around the city.
The first roundabout will be installed at Graham Road and Earlywood Drive for about $1.4 million. Work is expected to begin on or about May 28, with the intersection expected to reopen to traffic on or about Aug. 5, said Mark Richards, city engineer.
The second roundabout will be installed at Graham Road and Paul Hand Boulevard as part of a joint project between Franklin, Whiteland and Johnson County. The total cost is about $2.1 million, with Franklin and Whiteland each contributing $750,000 and the county contributing $650,000, Richards said.
If the total cost of the project is less than $2.15 million after actual costs have been accounted for, Whiteland and Johnson County will have funds returned to them on a pro-rata basis. If costs increase above $2.15 million, Franklin will absorb the additional amount, he said.
Richards expects work to begin on or about Aug. 6, with the intersection reopening on or about Nov. 22.
Both roundabouts are contracted out to Dave O’Mara Contractor, Inc., Richards said.
Elsewhere in the city, crews will refresh pavement markings on North Main Street between Jefferson Street and U.S. 31. Officials also plan to perform fills and seal cracks that develop in older pavement on about 41 miles of street rated as a six or seven on the PASER scale, and HMA seal on about 25 miles of street rated eight or nine on the PASER scale. HMA seal is a spray-on additive that restores some flexibility to pavement surface and also aids in repelling water, Richards said.
With the PASER rating system, a brand-new road is rated 10. On the other end of the spectrum, a road rated 1 would be impassable, he said.
Contracts are expected to be awarded for these three projects on May 6, he said.
The street department will also self-perform concrete repairs on North Main Street near the Lochry Subdivision, Richards said.
City officials previously said they would be milling and overlaying asphalt, with full-depth patching where needed, on 22 streets this summer using about $1.2 million in funding received from the state’s Community Crossing matching grant program. The city always does a mill and overlay when the road is rated three, sometimes also for roads rated four, Richards said.
Johnson County
As for unincorporated Johnson County, the highway department is still finalizing its summer maintenance program. However, there are a few projects already under contract with work planned to start soon, said Luke Mastin, highway director.
Deep pavement milling and asphalt paving of Morgantown Road between Stones Crossing and Fairview roads, and Peterman Road between Fairview and County Line roads, is planned for this summer. The approximately $1.7 million project is partially funded through a Community Crossings grant from 2023, which allows the county to increase the scope from their typical milling and asphalt paving projects, Mastin said.
In Greenwood, the Fry Road bridge just west of State Road 135 is expected to be reconstructed starting in June. While the bridge is in Greenwood city limits, the county is responsible for maintaining it.
The project will cost $2.4 million, with the majority of construction funding provided by a federal funding award. The bridge will be closed beginning June 3, with project completion planned in November, Mastin said.
Elsewhere in the county
In Bargersville, crews are working on West Street and North Street. The project replaces outdated utilities and improves drainage, and there will be a total replacement of the street including curbs and sidewalks, said Dan Cartwright, town manager.
The main work will be completed by the end of the year, while some final grading and seeding may be delayed until spring. This is just Phase 1 of West Street replacement, and Cartwright is hopeful that next year town officials will continue the street replacement south to Old South Street, he said.
Town officials are also working to continue upgrading public sidewalks and handicap ramps throughout the town. A substantial stormwater project in the Three-Notch neighborhood that will improve the drainage in the area is also planned, with the work including street patching and replacement in impacted areas, Cartwright said.
Whiteland officials previously said they would use about $787,939 in Community Crossing monies funding to will mill and resurface West Street and Pearl Street behind town hall, along with replacing sidewalks, driveway approaches and installing stormwater lines. In addition to this, a developer will be widening Graham Road from Whiteland Road to the end of town limits.
This widening, which will take place at the same time Graham Road is closed for the roundabout project at Paul Hand Boulevard, consists of adding a paved shoulder and repaving the roadway near the Patch Development project, said Carmen Young, director of administration.
In Edinburgh, town officials plan to do a full reconstruction of Plum Street from Main Street to Walnut Street, including curbs and driveway approaches. Milling and overlaying various streets and full depth patching where necessary is also planned for these streets. Curb ramps will also be removed and replaced where needed, according to documents provided by the town.
Mill and overlay work will take place on Bachelor, Brown, Bryan, Grant, Hart, King, Kyle, Maier, Main Cross, Morris, Waltz and Ward streets, along with Roosevelt Avenue and East, North and South Park Drive, documents show. The work is being paid for by a Community Crossings matching grant.
As for Prince’s Lakes, 11 streets will get repaved through Community Crossing grant funding, town officials said.
INDOT
The Indiana Department of Transportation also has several road projects planned for Johnson County. The agency maintains all state roads, U.S. highways and interstates within the county.
A bridge rehabilitation project is planned for the State Road 144 bridge over Moose Creek, in Hopewell near County Road 100 West, starting on or after Monday. State Road 144 will be reduced to one lane using temporary traffic signals while work is in progress, with work completed by November, weather permitting, according to INDOT.
An interstate patching project from Exit 80 at Edinburgh to Exit 90 at Franklin is planned for Interstate 65. Work is currently expected to begin in early June and be complete by late August, with night-time lane and ramp closures to take place while work is in progress, said Sidney Nierman, an INDOT Southeast spokesperson.
E&B Paving, Inc. received a $7.3 million contract for the project. Additional information will be provided by INDOT prior to the start of construction through GovDelivery and on social media, Nierman said.
On State Road 135 in Greenwood, work is planned at Sable Ridge Lane. Crews are expected to modify State Road 135 to have a two-way left turn lane with channelizing curbs starting in May, according to the city of Greenwood.
Further south, work to install sidewalks on State Road 135 between Smith Valley Road and Olive Branch Road is continuing. The right lane of both north and southbound State Road 135 has been closed for the project, which is expected to be completed in late May, according to INDOT.
