FORTVILLE — INDOT and Milestone officials provided updates on the Ind. 67 project Monday night at the Fortville Town Council meeting.
Steve Lindway, project manager from INDOT, said they received some emails, one regarding the crosswalk at Merrill Street.
Lindway said that they marked the crosswalk at Merrill Street with temporary tape instead of painting because the tape will be easier to remove than cleaning the paint markings when they get to the point in construction where they will have to temporarily take out the crosswalk.
Lindway also said they added signs at the crosswalk to help indicate to cars that they are supposed to stop for pedestrians.
Joe Renner, town manager for Fortville, said that they have also ordered spinner signs to add to the area to help identify the crosswalk.
Lindway said another issue related to construction is the forming of potholes, some located at Ind. 13 and Ind. 67. Lindway said he asked Milestone to use cold-mix asphalt to fix them.
They were able to install waterline up to Poplar Street and storm setup to Walnut Street. They were also able to install fire hydrants.
Lindway said they will do undercut for the subgrade treatment in the next phase, meaning they will remove the portion that sat underneath the road before adding new.
Grant Abbott from Milestone said they are moving east as they continue work on Ind. 67.
Andrew Nahrwold, area engineer for INDOT, came to the town council meeting Monday night to speak on questions asked at the previous INDOT update meeting. Nahrwold told the town council that normally INDOT does not attend town meetings, but is doing so as a courtesy to help keep everyone informed on progress and answer any questions that are proposed through the [email protected] email.
Fred Fentz, town council member, said that he asked for clarification a couple week ago on if the town is responsible for the sidewalks.
Nahrwold said, from his understanding, the state owns the sidewalks within the right-of-way, and that the town will be responsible for maintaining the sidewalks. For example, Nahrwold said that if the sidewalks are deteriorated, the state would come in and repair or replace them, assuming the town has been maintaining them.
Fentz asked if the town would be responsible for repairing a curb if it was damaged after the contract is closed, and if they would need permission from INDOT.
“I think their biggest fear is it’s going to be damaging cars,” said Fentz regarding the higher constructed curbs.
Narhwold said that if something relatively minor happens or it is standard wear and tear of the curb then the town would be responsible for fixing it. However, if there is damage that appears to be due to how the curb was designed or installed, Nahrwold said his guess would be that the state would take ownership.
Nahrwold said that in the case where something the state installed starts damaging cars and they would address it. Nahrwold said as discussed with Tonya Davis, town council president, and Renner, safety is their number one concern and if there is a safety issue caused by construction then they will address it.
