Signage and parking were overwhelmingly the concerns most on the minds of the Downtown businesspeople who gathered Monday night, at the Chesterton Utility Service Board’s meeting, to hear what they can expect during this season’s sanitary sewer replacement and separation project.

Mike Guzik, project manager with Lawson-Fisher Associates, and Town Engineer Mark O’Dell had this salient information for businesses:

•The first phase—from the Norfolk Southern right-of-way south to West Indiana Ave.—is expected to last six weeks, beginning in the first week of May and ending by June 18. Guzik conceded that the timetable “is a very aggressive one” but said that the specs of the contract will include penalties for delays in completion, allowing of course for weather-related ones.

•Because of the depth of the sanitary line being replaced—from 12 feet to 18 feet—and because it’s currently buried beneath concrete, excavation will go roughly from curb to curb along South Calumet Road.

•One lane of traffic will remain open over the Norfolk Southern grade-crossing: for southbound motorists only, with a right turn only onto westbound Broadway.

•For motorists eastbound on Broadway, a turnaround will be devised at the intersection of South Calumet Road to give folks a way of accessing westbound Broadway. That turnaround will necessarily remove a good chunk of parking at the terminus of Broadway.

•A posted detour for folks northbound on South Calumet Road and southbound on North Calumet Road will flow traffic around the construction area by way of Wabash Ave., Fourth Street, and Lincoln Ave.

•Motorists will be able to access West Indiana Ave. by turning left from northbound South Calumet Road.

•Motorists will be able to access the parking lot along Lois Lane—behind the business block, adjacent to Coffee Creek Park—by turning right onto West Indiana Ave. from northbound South Calumet Road.

•A crosswalk will be maintained as much as is feasible to allow pedestrians to cross South Calumet Road just in front of Flannery’s.

•All sanitary laterals from businesses in the construction area will be replaced up to the sidewalk. From the sidewalk to the businesses the laterals remain the property owners’ responsibility. Any arrangement which a business might make with the contractor to replace that portion of a lateral beneath the sidewalk is a private matter beyond the town’s jurisdiction.

•Public parking will be available at three locations: on Lois Lane; in the auxiliary lot belonging to the Westchester Public Library across the street from the Library Service Center in the 100 block of West Indiana Ave. (permission to use which was graciously provided by Library Director Phil Baugher; and in the lot of Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce in the 200 block of Broadway.

•Signage directing motorists to public parking as well as announcing that businesses are open will be strategically placed. Member Jim Raffin said that a signage logistics plan will be required of the general contractor and approved by the Service Board.

•O’Dell said that Chamber Executive Director Heather Ennis has agreed to act as a clearinghouse of information on the project, that businesses with questions should contact her, that she will talk to him, and that O’Dell will communicate concerns, questions, and comments to Lawson-Fisher and the general contractor.

•O’Dell also said that every attempt will be made to notify businesses of any possible temporary sewage or water shutoffs.

•O’Dell said too that the general contractor, per the contract, will be required to keep all businesses and residents in the construction area notified of any issues, problems, or delays.

•Guzik did say that two factors could affect the timetable. The first is that the sewer line is the better part of 100 years old and that there’s no real way of knowing what’s under ground. The second is that the general contractor will be working, at times and in parts, with Indiana American Water Company, which will take advantage of the excavation to do some work of its own.

•The second phase of the project will be pursued later in the year: the separation of a combined sanitary-stormwater line beneath South Calumet Road from Morgan Ave. south to Porter Ave.

•The Downtown project has nothing whatever to do with a second major project to be undertaken this summer: the replacement of a failed sanitary force main beneath West Porter Ave. from South Calumet Road to Fifth Street.

•Member John Schnadenberg urged businesses and residents to keep abreast of the project by visiting the municipal website at www.chestertonin.org

President Larry Brandt made a point of thanking the businesspeople in attendance for their questions and politeness. “It’s a pleasure working with you,” he said. “I hope you feel the same way at the end of June.”