Lane reductions are slated for U.S. 40 (Main Street) between Windswept Road in Greenfield and CR 500W.
Mitchell Kirk | Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY – A public meeting is coming up to discuss plans for a thoroughfare through the county’s west side.
The changes are slated for about 8.5 miles of U.S. 40 between about CR 700W and Monroe Street in Greenfield, which is a little under a mile west of State Street.
Part of the project will include removing the road surface and replacing it with new pavement between CR 700W and Mt. Comfort Road.
The stretch of U.S. 40 between CR 500W and Windswept Road is slated for a practice called right-sizing, in which lanes will be re-striped so that instead of two lanes in each direction, the road will have one lane in each direction with a two-way left-turn lane.
Two travel lanes in each direction will remain between Mt. Comfort Road and CR 500W.
“The purpose of the project is to enhance the safety along U.S. 40 by reducing vehicular collisions and extend the service life of U.S. 40,” reads a public notice for the upcoming meeting from the Indiana Department of Transportation. “ … The reconfiguration is expected to reduce the potential for crashes, [and] provide safe and efficient access for current and future driveways while maintaining traffic flow.”
INDOT is getting ready to carry out a similar road diet on Broadway in Fortville next year.
The notice for the U.S. 40 project also notes Hancock County’s desire to locate a section of the Pennsy Trail between CR 200W and CR 300W. The right-sizing will result in existing, unused pavement on the outside of U.S. 40’s shoulders. INDOT will partner with the county to remark the excess pavement to connect U.S. 40 to the Pennsy Trail, and the remaining existing pavement along the road’s south side between CR 200W and CR 300W will be repurposed as a multi-use path 8 to 10 feet wide for pedestrians and bicyclists. The path will be separated from the road by a raised median 2 to 4 feet wide.
“It is being considered as an option for connecting the Pennsy between Cumberland and Greenfield, because at this point we are moving toward that direction,” said Mary Ann Wietbrock, board president of Pennsy Trails of Hancock County Inc.
Wietbrock added the Pennsy Trail is currently under construction between Mt. Comfort Road and CR 500W and that the stretch between CR 500W and 400W is paved.
“We are working toward moving to the east from 400,” Wietbrock said.
The U.S. 40 project is anticipated to start in spring 2024, according to INDOT. It will require flagging, lane restrictions and lane closures. Access to all properties will be maintained during construction. All work will occur in existing right-of-way and no new right-of-way acquisition is required.
Funding for the project will come from the state and Federal Highway Administration. INDOT did not return a request for comment on how much the project is estimated to cost.
The department’s Greenfield District will host a public information meeting on the project at 6 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Hancock County Courthouse Annex, 111 American Legion Place, Greenfield, where attendees will have an opportunity to comment on the current preliminary design plans.
