U.S. 231 to close for major repair work

UPDATE: Due to heavy rain forecast for the area, the closure scheduled for US 231 in Jasper has now been delayed until Tuesday, November 13.

UPDATE: In addition to this major repair INDOT will be blacktopping portions of U.S. 231 between Huntingburg and Jasper. According to INDOT, traffic will not be rerouted for this work.

Jasper — Motorists may be seeing the signs of an upcoming closure of U.S. 231 in Jasper.

Those orange construction signs between 12th Avenue and Division Road in Jasper announce “this road will be closed on or after November 12th.” This is part of a plan by the Indiana Department of Transportation to make major repairs to U.S. 231 through a long section of Dubois County.

“We just have some really heavy truck traffic through that area and we feel the best way to treat that particular area is to do concrete patching'” said INDOT spokesperson Cher Elliott. “And, in order to do that, we do have to close the road to allow them to cut out the existing pavement, place the new concrete in and then, of course, it has a certain amount of time it has to set and cure before we can allow traffic on it. And the time frame for concrete is longer, of course, than letting traffic go on asphalt.”

Elliott says that the road will be closed Monday, November 12, and depending upon weather, should reopen to traffic by the following Friday, November 16.

“Our detour actually directs motorists on State Road 64 over to State Road 257 and then back across on State Road 56 back into Jasper,” Elliot said.

The state can only detour through state-operated highways, but Jasper Street Commissioner Raymie Eckerle stated the city is recommending two local detours.

The first is to go west on 12th Ave. to north on St. Charles to Division Road, and then east back to U.S. 231.

The second route is to go east on State Road 162 at 231 and then go north on Newton Street up through Jasper.

Eckerle says that they do not want heavy traffic on Wernsing Road because it will tear up the newly laid asphalt and it also poses a safety hazard to workers at Jasper Engines who park across Wernsing Road to get to the Jasper Engines buildings.