Huntingburg, Dubois County outline projects with INDOT funding announcement

Huntingburg hopes to improve a major intersection as part of the recent Federal Highway Funding award Indiana Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.

Huntingburg and Dubois County were among the 50 cities and towns that received federal transportation funding for local road and bridge improvements and sidewalk projects.

Huntingburg plans on completely rebuilding Veterans Parkway between U.S. 231/Main Street and Chestnut Street with the $2,268,000 awarded by INDOT.

According to Mayor Neil Elkins, the street was not built to sustain the number of vehicles, or the number of heavy trucks that presently utilize the road that was extended with the addition of the railroad overpass. The project will include a full dig out of the existing road surface and rebuilding to stringent federal highway standards.

“This project is a perfect fit for federal funds and will provide us with enough resources to complete the project with a quality result,” he explained.

The city also hopes to work with Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) to add turn lanes at the intersection with U.S. 231/Main Street for better traffic flow.

“One advantage we had in applying for this award was the fact that we had already completed all pre-engineering, soil testing, obtained easements, and utilized all of our utility departments to provide GIS data needed to further the project,” Mayor Elkins said.

An initial award of $2,835,000 was also announced for Dubois County to use on safety upgrades to more than 60 bridges in the county. The funds will be used to install bridge rail, guardrail, and end treatments to prevent vehicle runoffs. The county will provide a 10 percent match of $421,000 for the project and anticipates additional funding to cover design and engineering costs.

For this latest round of funding, rural communities will design, develop and purchase right-of-way for local projects. While the funds awarded now are dedicated to construction, INDOT will also participate financially in design, engineering, and right-of-way acquisition.