INDOT advertises contract for work on deadly Spencer County U.S. 231 intersections

INDOT expects to open contractor bids on Oct. 7. Construction is slated to begin in spring of 2016.

The contract comes after public hearings at Heritage Hills High School in January and April, as well as an engineering study of traffic and crash data by INDOT and an outside consultant. That study stated that the construction of J-turns would cost about $1.5 million. The study also looked other options, including installing an interchange or stoplight. An interchange would cost about $15 million, while a stoplight could be put in for about $125,000, according to the study.

J-turns allow drivers to avoid crossing several lanes of a busy highway by turning right and then merging left onto a J-turn that loops around and allows drivers to merge onto the highway in their preferred direction of travel.

The public hearings came about after lobbying from the family of retired Heritage Hills Middle School Principal Susan Grundhoefer, who was killed in a collision on Dec. 28 while crossing U.S. 231 on Indiana 62. There have been four deaths and at least nine injuries at the Dale intersections since 2011.

When proposed in April, the J-turns were slated to be the first of their kind in Indiana. There are now J-turns at U.S. 41 and Indiana 114 in Newton County, according to INDOT.