While the junction of U.S. 31 and Bear Lane is under the jurisdiction of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), the Bartholomew County commissioners have agreed to take financial responsibility for the early stages of development at and near the intersection.
The commissioners have entered into a professional services agreement with United Consulting Engineers (UCE) of Indianapolis. The $375,575 agreement calls for UCE to design the improvements, handle the bidding process, and purchase right-of-way, county administrator Tina Jeffries said.
Upgrades will include a traffic signal, the widening of Bear Lane between the Speedway convenience store and Burger King restaurant, and the addition of multiple turn lanes, UCE vice-president John Clodfelter said.
So why is the county, rather than the state, footing the bill for the improvements?
“Because it won’t happen if we wait for INDOT – and it needs to happen,” commissioner Tony London said.
London is referring to the county’s promise of infrastructure improvements made to Irresistible Foods Group, Inc. for agreeing to build two food processing facilities – King’s Hawaiian and Grillo’s Pickles – along a future extension of Hubler Drive that will eventually extend to County Road 700N.
And while the intersection is the responsibility of INDOT, Bear Road is under the jurisdiction of Bartholomew County government, commissioners Chairman Larry Kleinhenz said.
He adds the county does have an unspecified amount of state money that can be earmarked for the project.
Hubler Drive transitions into Bear Lane one block before it reaches U.S. 31. Engineers agree that, with the planned improvements, Bear Lane is the only practical route for semis to use between Interstate 65 and the Irresistible Foods facilities.
INDOT spokeswoman Sidney Nierman confirmed her agency will not be financially involved in the design phase. She emphasized the state did pay for a number of improvements last year along U.S. 31, from Tannehill Road to Interstate 65.
Clodfelter said his company has received permission from INDOT to design the stoplights, and will continue working with state transportation officials on development of the intersection.
“It’s their intersection,” he said. “We’re working to meet what INDOT wants.”
The intersection of U.S. 31 and Bear Lane has been the site of many car crashes over the years. But public safety concerns peaked on Feb. 1, 2015.
That night, Columbus North High School basketball standout Josh Speidel was critically hurt with a traumatic brain injury during a car accident at the intersection. Speidel had just been recruited by the University of Vermont when the collision took place.
“This is probably 10 years overdue,” said Kleinhenz in regard to the planned improvements. “But it is a complicated design and development.”
UCE will have to deal with small alignment issues in the design, including the addition of new turn lanes and getting the installation of the traffic signals worked out, Clodfelter said.
Part of the problem is the lack of available land in the area, according to commissioner Carl Lienhoop.
But Clodfelter said UCE plans to move very quickly, and hopes to seek bids in the spring in order to meet Irresistible Foods’ construction schedule.
The commissioners are still having conversations about securing additional financing when the project reaches the construction phase, Kleinhenz said.
