Officials from the state transportation department, Columbus, Bartholomew County, Cummins, Inc. as well as Milestone Contractors and Louisville & Indiana Railroad join in a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the new railroad overpass in Columbus on Sept. 30, 2020. The project has received a Transportation Achievement Award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers Indiana Section.
Republic file photo
Collaborators on the State Road 46 overpass have received an award for their work in traffic engineering.
The Columbus Redevelopment Department shared the news on social media on Thursday, stating that the city of Columbus, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and engineering and consulting firm Crawford, Murphy and Tilly (CMT) have been honored with the Transportation Achievement Award by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Indiana Section.
According to the section’s website, “The Transportation Achievement Award may be awarded annually for excellence in the advancement of transportation to meet human needs.”
The Indiana ITE’s December 2021 newsletter states that the city, INDOT and CMT were specifically awarded for achievement in traffic engineering in regards to the State Road 46 overpass of Louisville & Indiana Railroad and State Road 11.
The overpass opening was celebrated in an official ribbon cutting ceremony in the fall of 2020. The project was jointly funded by INDOT, the city of Columbus, Bartholomew County, Cummins Inc. and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX railroads.
The project was developed in response to a projected increase in railroad traffic on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad tracks. City officials have said in the past that most project costs were shared 50-50. INDOT agreed to pick up half of the total cost, while the city, along with other partners, picked up the other half of the tab.
The city partnered with Cummins, Bartholomew County and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX Railroads to defray around half of the local funding requirements in the interlocal agreement.
The railroad has leased its tracks running through Columbus to CSX, which is expected to result in an increase in train traffic, train speed and delays at intersections involving rail crossings through the city, with the State Road 46/State Road 11 intersection expected to have the most delayed local traffic.
