Motorists traveling between Kokomo and Carmel will encounter additional traffic restrictions starting April 9.
The U.S. 31 ramp to southbound Keystone Parkway will close that Monday, as the state’s contractors perform bridge work for the ongoing U.S. 31 project.
Southbound traffic will be required to continue along U.S. 31 to I-465 for about 90 days, at which point the southbound ramp to Keystone is expected to reopen.
Indiana Department of Transportation officials are expected to give the public more information on the Hamilton County portion of the U.S. 31 project at an open house, starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Carmel High School.
INDOT announced updated design, schedule and construction information will be available at the open house, and members of the public will be able to speak one-on-one with INDOT officials. Anyone interested in going can park in Freshman Center parking lot and enter the school through door 13.
Based on Indiana tax returns, 2,671 workers commuted between Howard County and either Hamilton or Marion counties in 2009, the last year for which statistics are available.
Earlier this month, the state announced its intent to speed up U.S. 31 Hamilton County construction and open the project to traffic three years earlier than expected.
Traffic restrictions in Hamilton County will continue throughout the summer, as work continues along the U.S. 31 corridor.
On or after April 11, both directions of U.S. 31 will share the northbound lanes between 136th Street and 151st Street.
INDOT officials said “motorists should watch for narrow lanes, minimal shoulders and a reduced speed limit.”
After the 90-day closure of the southbound ramp to Keystone is over, work will switch to the northbound lanes, and the northbound Keystone Parkway ramp to northbound U.S. 31 will be closed north of the 146th Street exit for approximately 80 days, INDOT officials said Tuesday.
More information is available at the U.S. 31 Hamilton County project website at www.us31hamiltoncounty.IN.gov or text ROADS to 411247 (standard texting rates apply).
The Hamilton County work will be the final stage of a major upgrade of U.S. 31 between South Bend and Indianapolis. Overall, the project is expected to cut travel time between the two cities by half an hour.
State officials are hoping contractors working in Hamilton County will be able to obtain private financing for the project, to be reimbursed over time by state transportation dollars.
The state has already spent most of the money collected from the lease of the Indiana Toll Road. The $3 billion garnered from the 75-year lease funded the state’s Major Moves program, which in turn funded the 13.1-mile eastern bypass currently under construction around Kokomo.