The city of Valparaiso is preparing for potential changes to State Road 130. The board of works last week agreed to hire civil engineering firm EMCS to perform a traffic analysis of the highway's intersection with Tower Road, at a cost of $9,600.
"Recently, the city was contacted by Representative Ed Soliday, regarding a possible location for a roundabout improvement project," explained Max Rehlander, Valparaiso engineering director. "It was advised by the state representative to conduct both a traffic analysis, as well as gather crash data at this location."
He said his staff had gotten crash data from the Valparaiso Police Department and Porter County Sheriff's Office.
Mayor Matt Murphy noted it's a very difficult intersection. "With Vale Park opening, it's only going to get busier," Murphy said.
It's one of a number of road projects discussed during last week's board of works meeting.
The closure of Valparaiso Street downtown was extended through the end of the year. The board had approved a two-week closure in September for the construction of the Lincoln Highway Garage but approved the extension last week, as work turns to façade improvements.
Rehlander said the historic paving bricks will be reinstalled. "That will come with the city streetscape improvement project, anticipated to happen in June of next year," Rehlander explained.
Meanwhile, the board of works approved several closures requested by NIPSCO, as it performs maintenance on its electric poles around the city, and resident Mary Abraytis again urged the board to remove the 20-ton weight limit on Yellowstone Road and reinstall "No Thru Truck" signs, instead.
