FORT WAYNE – Higher costs aren’t always a result of bad planning. Sometimes they are just inevitable.
Q. I have a question about cost of the Fort to Port project. The 11-mile stretch in Indiana will cost $170 million, which makes cost per mile $15,454,545. The cost for Ohio’s 58 miles is $420 million, which makes the cost per mile $7,241,379. Why would Indiana’s cost per mile be more than double Ohio’s cost? – J.D. Bielko
A. An astute math observation, J.D.
KimberLee Parker, project management engineer with the Indiana Department of Transportation, said there is one major reason Hoosier costs are higher: land.
Ohio had previously obtained most of the needed land for the four-lane highway next to the existing two-lane road. This allowed our Buckeye neighbors to mostly just add travel lanes to the existing highway, whereas Indiana is building a completely new road.
She said the estimates were based on projected costs several years ago. Since then, the poor economy has dropped prices, which have been seen in this project. With one phase complete, two under construction and one more to bid, the state expects the total project cost to be less than original estimates.
The entire Indiana project, stretching from Interstate 469 to the state line, is expected to be finished by late 2012.
Q. When will the city have the new striping done for bike lanes and the center turning lane on Rudisill Boulevard? We’re sure looking forward to that improvement for biking, as well as for improved driving safety. – Dick & Carol Schwartz
A. Thanks for raising a concern I’m sure many people share, Dick and Carol.
Shan Gunwardena, city traffic engineer, said the project was supposed to have been finished by the end of June, but a national shortage of pavement paint has caused a delay. He said the city has talked with industry representatives who said the material should be in supply in the next few weeks.
The city hopes those markings can be placed by early fall. This problem also is affecting the newly paved streets downtown and on State Boulevard.
Aboite update
Western Fort Wayne drivers got some relief this week as the county opened Aboite Center Road from west of Coventry Lane to Dicke Road. Of course, that means the section from Dicke to West Jefferson was closed to complete the improvement project, which is to be finished in mid-October. The $6.6 million project widens Aboite Center to four lanes and adds a path and sidewalk.
Radio Sage
This week’s bonus audio question comes from J.R. Fanger, who asks about the intersection of Superior Street and Spy Run Avenue. The segment originally aired Friday afternoon on WOWO-AM 1190 and can be found online at www.journalgazette.net/roadsage.
