Open house on US 31 corridor project draws crowd

Friday, March 14, 2025 at 5:58 AM

By Wes Dehne

An open house Thursday at Argos Community Junior-Senior High School was packed by people wanting to hear more about proposed safety improvements to a section of U.S. 31 encompassing Marshall and Fulton counties.

Representatives from INDOT and VS Engineering, which is leading design improvements, detailed proposals for new interchanges at the intersections of State Road 10 and State Road 110 and an overpass at County Road 700 North, as well as six other crossings along the roughly 7-mile project area.

"Under normal circumstances, each one of these projects would get its own meeting like this," said Adam Parkhouse, director of stakeholder services for INDOT's LaPorte District. "We're doing it all together here tonight, trying to be respectful of everybody's time, and so we don't have to go through this four different times."

Prior to a formal presentation by VS Engineering's Chris Waidner, attendees were able to view displays and talk to representatives about the proposed safety improvements. Representatives also stayed after the presentation for any additional questions or comments.

"These are obviously really impactful projects, and we want your feedback," Parkhouse said, encouraging attendees to fill out comment forms at stations around the cafeteria.

Waidner went on to note that although alternatives were being presented at specific locations, the project is the corridor.

"We want to have a safe corridor that functions for everybody," he said. "The purpose is to maintain reasonable access onto the highway system, while reducing conflict points."

He added that every conflict point is an opportunity for a very bad wreck due to the speeds on U.S. 31.

"Projects are needed at these locations because of safety concerns," he said. "People have lost their lives crossing U.S. 31. We want that to stop, so we're trying to address those safety concerns at these at-grade crossings."

Waidner noted INDOT is making a major investment into the corridor with this project, as construction costs are estimated to range from $42 million to $44 million.

Waidner also referenced the outpouring of opposition when J-turns were suggested for the corridor back in 2017.

"The public did not want a J-turn at that location," he said, referring to State Road 10. "That was heard. Again, your feedback counts. We still have to come up with a safe alternative."

Currently, there are seven designs being considered for interchanges at State Road 10, four for State Road 110 and three for a bridge at County Road 700 North. That bridge is being designed to accommodate horse and buggy traffic of Amish and Mennonite communities, as well as farm combines.

Additionally, four packages are being considered for access control changes at 16th Road, 17th Road, 18th Road, 19th Road, Kenilworth Road and 20B Road.

Preliminary preferred alternatives were presented for each, with images available in the photo gallery below.

While some plans call for a reduced conflict intersection, also known as a J-turn, the preliminary preferred alternative at this time is to close all six of those secondary intersections. Additionally, plans for a J-turn at State Road 10 have been swapped for roundabouts.

Waidner noted the first phase of the project is to start in 2028, with a two-year construction process at State Road 10. Construction on the overpass at County Road 700 North would also begin that year. The second phase is to come in 2030 with construction of the interchange at State Road 110, followed by the access control changes at the six other crossings.

There is to be another open house later this year, and a formal hearing next year. A comment form is available at https://www.in.gov/indot/files/Marshall-Fulton-US-31-Corridor-Comment-Form.pdf, with instructions to email completed forms to Tom Spalding at tspalding@c2strategic.com by Monday, March 31.