Published: September 04, 2008 08:44 pm            

Milestone coming up

The start of construction on the last leg of the Hoosier Heartland is less than two months away. Hallelujah.

The Indiana Department of Transportation has scheduled groundbreaking for Oct. 22.

The department this week will award construction contracts on various parts of the project, including the first segment on Ind. 25 east of Lafayette.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll be driving on the new highway any time soon. The project is scheduled to take five years to complete, and the segment closest to Logansport is the final one due to be built.

Still, next month’s groundbreaking will be a milestone worth celebrating. Folks have been talking about this highway for decades. The organization formed to advocate its construction will celebrate its 26th anniversary early next year.

When finished, the $500 million highway will connect Interstates 65 and 69.

Combined with a “Fort to Port” project from Fort Wayne to Toledo, the highway is certain to be a boost for the economies of communities from Lafayette to Lake Erie, and cities all along the proposed route are making plans to capitalize.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of the new freeway, though, will be fewer traffic accidents.

Safety, in fact, is the reason that work will begin on the western end of the final segment. The stretch of Ind. 25 between Lafayette and Delphi is a narrow, curvy road that has been the scene of many wrecks.

Plans call for work to be finished by 2013.

Just to be clear, though, the timeline is not set in stone. As Gov. Mitch Daniels pointed out when he shaved three years off the construction schedule in February, hitting that new deadline won’t be easy. It’ll take both luck and cooperation.

Luck, obviously, is something no one can control, but cooperation has been a hallmark of this project so far. Local officials have made a habit of reaching across party lines to move the project forward.

We’ll need more of that in the months and years to come.

– Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, and Kokomo Tribune

        

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