With spring flowers losing their blossoms, it’s time for road construction season.
State officials announced traffic restrictions will resume next week for two ongoing Howard County projects.
Work crews will narrow traffic to one lane in each direction along U.S. 35/Ind. 22 near the new U.S. 31 bypass, and to a single lane along Ind. 26 west of Russiaville.
The traffic restrictions will be in place through May along U.S 35/Ind. 22 (Markland Avenue), and for “several weeks” near Russiaville, INDOT officials announced.
Ted Cain, Howard County highway superintendent, also announced this week that the bridge on Albright Road, between Alto Road and Southway Boulevard, will be closed for at least three weeks starting Monday.
The Markland and Ind. 26 closures are also expected to start early Monday morning.
Along the 35/22/Markland corridor, construction crews from E&B Paving will begin paving the center turn lane and median curb of the five-lane road between Goyer Road and a point just east of County Road 300 East.
The crews will be on site Monday through Wednesday — weather permitting — beginning at 2 p.m. each day. Paving operations will continue into nighttime hours, INDOT officials said.
During the work, the right lanes of Markland Avenue will continue to be open to traffic. The left lanes of the highway will remain closed.
Center median and concrete curb work along Markland is expected to continue for approximately two weeks, and in mid-May, the traffic flow will switch to the left lanes as workers begin finishing the shoulders of the upgraded roadway.
Widening Markland is part of the U.S. 31 bypass project, a $160 million corridor around the east side of Kokomo. The state’s Major Moves fund is paying for the upgrade.
Russiaville
INDOT officials announced they will restrict traffic to a single lane at worksites on Ind. 26, west of Russiaville, for the next several weeks.
Construction crews are scheduled to begin fine-grading slopes Monday morning near the arched bridge that spans the west fork of Honey Creek. In operations expected to last one week, they will also pave side ditches further to the west. During daytime hours, traffic will be narrowed to a single lane at work sites.
The following week E&B Paving will mill off the existing surface and repave Ind. 26 between Russiaville and the Howard-Clinton County line. Flaggers will be present to direct traffic around paving crews and equipment during the five or six days the work is expected to last.
The work is a prelude to a much larger project which will shut down stretches of Ind. 26 starting in May.
A major reconstruction of Ind. 26 from Russiaville east to Dixon Road should begin early next month. Workers will excavate the existing roadway and build a new roadbed, capable of accommodating two 12-foot lanes with 8-foot paved shoulders.
The project will include sight-distance corrections, and several intersections realigned, INDOT officials said.
Information on the reconstruction and on road closures will be made closer to the start date of the project.
• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via email at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
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