<strong>UPDATED 5 P.M. JAN. 14:</strong> U.S. 31 in Franklin is getting a facelift, and the state is footing the bulk of the bill.
The Franklin City Council last week unanimously approved an interlocal agreement between the city and the Indiana Department of Transportation that specifies who will pay for what of a $48.4 million project that will revamp U.S. 31 in Franklin from South Main Street to Israel Lane.
INDOT pledged $45.2 million, which will pay for the majority of the project. That money will go toward construction, right-of-way services and acquisition, utility relocation and construction inspections, according to the agreement.
Franklin will pull $3.2 million from its U.S. 31 tax increment financing — or TIF — district to pay for the engineering costs associated with the project, the agreement said.
TIFs redirect tax dollars in economic development areas to infrastructure improvements in those areas instead of to other public entities that would traditionally split those tax dollars, including police, fire, schools and libraries.
The project includes adding trails on both sides of the highway in an effort to make the city more walker friendly, making drainage improvements and adding J-Turns, which city and state officials hope will make the city’s intersections safer, Franklin mayor Steve Barnett said.
J-Turns essentially eliminate left turns at intersections by prompting motorists to turn right, drive a bit, then enter a left-turn lane that would allow them to make a U-Turn. The revamped intersection would eliminate the need for motorists to cross multiple lanes of traffic to make left turns.
Those intersection improvements will hopefully prevent accidents, Barnett said.
“It will be much safer and the traffic flow will move much faster,” he said.
U.S. 31 is one of the main north-south corridors through Franklin, and INDOT has identified the portion of U.S. 31 between Columbus and Indianapolis as one of the most dangerous, Barnett said.
“That is their driver behind this, to fix the traffic flow,” he said.
City officials agreed to pay the $3.2 million in engineering fees to allow them a chance to make decisions about what the improvements would look like, such as adding pedestrian trails, Barnett said.
“We have a seat at the table. If we didn’t have a seat at the table, we wouldn’t have gotten the trails,” he said.
The trails on both sides of the highway will likely improve economic development in the area by making the city more pedestrian friendly, Barnett said. INDOT’s investment should also help boost the city’s economy, he said.
“I think it is an asset to the community to get the state to invest $45 million into our city,” Barnett said.
Construction is expected to start in the fall of 2022. U.S. 31 will be open as a two-lane highway for the duration of the extensive project, he said.
