June 10, 2010
06/10/10
Ron Wireman, Construction Engineer from DLZ for the Pioneer Drive Extension and Improvement Project updated the county commissioner on the progress of the work.
The dirt moving work continues on the new Pioneer Drive project and while the work is still officially “on schedule”, according to Wireman, utility work could soon cause a setback.
G.E. Marshall has been moving dirt work on the south side of the project from the railroad to S.R.17. Wireman said he anticipated dirt work north of the railroad to begin at any time.
Wireman’s report states that relocation of utilities in the area were moving more slowly than anticipated and that contractors on the project G.E. Marshall and Rieth-Riley had mentioned to him that soon that utility relocation would be delaying the project.
NIPSCO Gas has finished on relocating the main on the north side of Lincoln Highway and they expect to relocate the man on the north side of S.R.17 this week. NIPSCO Transmission has relocated poles on the south side of S.R.17 and are currently working on the north side. They anticipate completing this work by the end of the week. REMC has finished all their work except for Lincoln Highway where they are waiting for NIPSCO Electric Transmission to set their poles.
The delay appears to be Century Link. They have recently released work to a contractor for relocation along Lincoln Highway and have only recently submitted relocation plans for Pioneer Drive north of Lincoln Highway.
The closing of S.R. 17 has been delayed due to the relocation of electric, gas and phone lines, and rain. The delays in closing the road have resulted in corresponding delays in the closure of Lincoln Highway. Both roads are not allowed to be closed at the same time during the project so it appears that a scheduled 60 day closure of Lincoln Highway may not happen until after Labor Day at the earliest and possibly not until early next year.
The 30 day closure for S.R. 17 is anticipated within the next 2 to 3weeks.