The decision has been made to keep open to traffic one lane in each direction of 1100N between Ind. 49 and 100E during its reconstruction and re-grading in the spring.

Chesterton Town Engineer Mark O’Dell told the Redevelopment Commission at a special meeting Monday night that the project will take longer that way, an estimated six weeks.

An alternative had been to close 1100N entirely, do the work in one fell swoop, and complete it in only a week. But the operators of at least nine businesses in the South Calumet District, concerned about the impact of the closure on trade, petitioned the commission at its last meeting to undertake the project as originally designed, in phases.

Meanwhile, O’Dell informed members that the new traffic signal at 1100N and 100E was activated on Dec. 31. Non-voting Member Janice Custer did wonder, however, whether under certain circumstances vehicles westbound on 1100N and stopped at 100E might stack as far east as the intersection of Ind. 49.

O’Dell said in response that he and Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg will be monitoring traffic patterns there closely. But as currently programmed the signal for west- and eastbound 1100N stays green until a vehicle north- or southbound on 100E approaches the intersection, while the signal for north- and southbound 100E stays green for only 15 seconds.

O’Dell did say that special events at Chesterton High School which attract a lot of out-of-towners could force the Chesterton Police Department to task an officer to traffic control at the intersection. He added, though, that a manual override would allow an officer to change the timing of the signal if needed.

Also activated in the South Calumet District have been the new decorative street lights south of Thanos Road. Those north of Thanos Road are still awaiting NIPSCO attention, O’Dell said. “We’ve received a lot of compliments about the street lighting,” he added.

“That intersection is extremely well lit and much safer now,” Member Jim Ton noted. “I’m very impressed with the way it turned out.”

One last update on the project: the contract for street- and landscaping in the district, awarded to low-bidder Larson-Danielson Construction Company of LaPorte—with a price of $448,936.07—should be finalized very soon, O’Dell said.

Posted 1/5/2010