Drivers have gotten accustomed to creative routes to avoid a closed section of U.S. 6 near South Haven. Now they’re going to have to adjust to another bridge construction project on U.S. 6.
The Indiana Department of Transportation announced Rieth-Riley Construction will close U.S. 6 over Coffee Creek between Mander Road and County Road 350 E on or after Monday. It will remain closed through about July 31.
The road closure just east of Ind. 149, over Salt Creek, is expected to end June 26.
In both cases, INDOT is paying for bridge deck overlay projects.
The road projects are among those that INDOT is funding throughout the region.
On Interstate 94 between Ind. 49 and U.S. 421, lanes are restricted for Milestone Contractors to work on five projects – asphalt resurfacing, concrete pavement restoration and bridge painting at County Road 500 E, Porter/LaPorte County Line Road and U.S. 421.
Rieth-Riley is also working on a project at U.S. 41 and 151st Avenue, with lane closures in each direction.
What INDOT calls a reduced conflict intersection has become known as a Michigan left turn, with drivers turning right before making a left turn, then using a left turn lane to make a U-turn. The idea is to reduce the severity of crashes that happen at traditional intersections.
INDOT began using this type of intersection in 2015 on U.S. 41 in Newton County.
The U.S. 41 and 151st Avenue project is expected to be completed in September.
Adam Parkhouse, INDOT’s director of stakeholder engagement for Northwest Indiana, told the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission that road construction projects had begun.
“You’ve probably all started to see the state flower start to bloom, which is the orange barrel along the highways,” he said. Drive carefully in work zones, Parkhouse urged.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.