The plans to expand State Boulevard will still happen, but its schedule is not yet finalized.
Q. It was announced that State Boulevard was to be widened and straightened from Clinton Street to Wells Street in 2011. What is the status of that project? – Gary Sigler
A. Gary, your memory is spot on. I previously reported that the widening project was to occur in 2011. That is no longer the case.
Shan Gunawardena, city traffic engineer, said the project is still under development. The environmental documents and reviews are ongoing, and the construction plans are in the process of being prepared.
The project is now scheduled to be done in two phases. The section between Spy Run and Clinton will be done in 2013, and the section between Clinton and Cass Street will be done in 2014.
The schedule might be adjusted again to avoid conflicts with the state’s realignment of Clinton Street between State and Elizabeth Street, Gunawardena said. The city and state do not want to have both roads under construction at the same time.
The $9 million project would include two travel lanes in each direction and a softer curve near Eastbrook and Westbrook drives. The new alignment would help the city provide more capacity to the nearly 20,000 vehicles that travel it daily. The state will cover much of the project’s costs.
Q. Can right-turn arrows be added on the Jefferson Boulevard turn onto Covington Road to improve traffic flow? – Jerry Wierzbinski
A. Good news, Jerry, such an improvement will happen.
Shan Gunawardena, city traffic engineer, said the city evaluated the intersection and determined the arrows could be installed. The right-turn arrows will come on when the left-turn arrows for Covington Road are on.
The change will be made by city crews within the next few weeks, as scheduling permits.
A call for help
The regional transportation group announced this week it will conduct a survey to help address the area’s transportation needs. About 3,000 Allen County residents will receive letters, of which a few hundred will be selected to participate in the survey. Those selected will be asked to keep a diary of the places traveled during a day.
Dan Avery, director of the planning group, asked residents to be as helpful as they can as it will help his group best allocate local transportation resources. The analysis of the results is expected to be done by midsummer. Residents can go to www.nircc.com for more information about the survey.
Radio Sage
This week’s audio question comes from Russ Norris of Fort Wayne who asks about the recently altered exit ramp from Interstate 469 to Auburn Road. The segment originally aired Friday afternoon on WOWO and can be found online at www.journalgazette.net/roadsage
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