Bridge Replacement and Road Realignment on U.S. 6 over Norfolk Southern Railroad

Albion Municipal Building Thursday, October 22, 2015

Welcome

Rickie Clark, INDOT Office of Public Involvement

Purpose/explanation of public hearing Public hearing format Visit our sign-in table Informational handouts Submitting public comments for hearings

transcript Project display area

Welcome

Introduction of INDOT Project Team Project Management Public Involvement Fort Wayne District – INDOT Regional Office

Environmental Assessment & Review Environmental Services Real Estate

Beam, Longest & Neff Design Team

Recognition of elected and local public officials

Public Hearing

Sign-in at attendance table to be added to project mailing list

A public hearing notice was mailed to known property owners within project area

Announcement of this hearing was posted to INDOT website. A media release was also issued

A copy of presentation and project documentation is available on-line via INDOT website

Legal notice publishing: The News Sun (Kendallville)

October 7th and 14th 2015

Project Stakeholders

Indiana Department of Transportation Indiana Division Federal Highway Administration Noble County Towns of Albion & Brimfield Elected public officials Community residents and citizens Commuters Businesses Emergency services Schools

Project Selection

Early Coordination

Environmental phase begins Purpose &

Need Develop

alternatives

Preliminary design phase

Release environmental document for public review

and comment

Additional work to finalize

environmental document

Finalize project design

Real Estate Acquisition

Utility Coordination

Construction

Project Development Process

Public Hearing

Environmental Document

Requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Requires INDOT to analyze and evaluate the

impacts of a proposed project to the natural and socio-economic environments

Impacts are described in environmental document

Environmental document released for public involvement

September 2015 Available for review via public repositories and at

public hearing

Environmental Document

Environmental Phase of Project Development Establish Purpose and Need Develop a number of possible alternatives

The “Do Nothing” alternative is a baseline for comparison

Evaluate and screen alternatives Identify a preferred alternative Solicit public comment on environmental

document and preliminary design plan Solicit, address and fully consider public

comment as part of decision-making process Finalize and approve environmental document

Environmental Documentation

INDOT Fort Wayne District OfficeEnvironmental Services Department 5333 Hatfield RoadFort Wayne, IN 46808 (866) 227-3555INDOT Website location: http://www.fortwayne.indot.in.gov

INDOT Office of Public Involvement, IGCN Room N642100 North Senate AvenueIndianapolis, IN 46204(317) 232-6601Email: rclark@indot.in.gov

Noble County Central Public Library 813 East Main StreetAlbion, IN 46701(260) 636-7197

A number of items are evaluated Right-of-way Streams, Wetlands,

and Other Waters Floodplains Endangered Species Farmland Cultural Resources

(Historic/Archaeological)

Parks and Recreational Lands (Trails)

Air Quality Noise Community Impacts Environmental Justice Hazardous Materials Permits Mitigation Public Involvement Commercial

Development

Environmental Documentation

Bridge Replacement & Road Realignment Does proposal involve impacts to

historic structures and/or places? Section 106 of the National Historic

Preservation Act (NHPA) Requires federal agencies to take into account the

effects of their undertakings on historic properties This proposal does not involve any properties

eligible for National Register of Historic Places INDOT and FHWA (Federal Highway Administration)

will issue a “no historic properties affected” determination

Public hearing is an opportunity to comment on INDOT and FHWA determination

Bridge Replacement & Road Realignment Purpose and Need

Enhance safety by addressing deficiencies with existing bridge and road alignment

Enhance vertical clearance over Norfolk Southern Railroad

Address road elevation transitions Improve intersection sight distances Address vertical and horizontal curvatures on U.S. 6 Improve safety for residents and roadways users

INDOT data indicates the following incidents occurring between 1993-2013 on U.S. 6 within the project area:

66 vehicular accidents 17 personal injuries, 2 fatalities Incidents related to vertical & horizontal curvatures, sight

distances and location of intersecting roadways on U.S. 6

Project Overview

Proposed U.S. 6 Bridge replacement over Norfolk Southern Railroad and Roadway realignment

Project limits are from 0.5 mile east of State Road 9 (south junction) to 0.3 mile east of Francis Street in Town of Brimfield

Replace existing U.S. 6 Bridge Bridge originally constructed in 1966 Deck reconstructed in 1987 A new structure must accommodate two additional

railroad tracks Enhance vertical clearance requirements

Existing vertical clearance is 22ft and 2 inches Proposed new bridge vertical clearance will be

23ft Realign U.S. 6 in close proximity to the existing

bridge with road reconstruction

Preferred Alternative

Replace existing bridge with a new bridge approximately 100 feet west of current location

Address vertical and horizontal movements associated with the identified vehicular accident history U.S. 6 to be realigned and reconstructed Access to U.S. 6 will be eliminated

County Road 100 East (southern end of project)

Albion Street (northern end of project) Access elimination necessary to enhance

safety

Drainage Drainage

Existing drainage patterns to be maintained Utilize roadside and trackside ditches as

primary drainage means Project will impact Weaver Regulated Drain Tile Permitting will be required with ongoing

coordination to mitigate impact to drain tile

Preferred Alternative

PREFERRED ALIGNMENT

Preferred Alternative

160-foot Single Span Steel Plate Girder Bridge 40’-8” Clear Roadway MSE Retaining Wall Abutments to Minimize the Span

Length

Preferred Alternative

Speed limit for U.S. 6 will remain 40 mph Maximum grade of U.S. 6 will be 4.96% 12-foot travel lanes 8-foot usable shoulders, 4 foot paved U.S. 6 and C.R. 100 E intersection will be terminated U.S. 6 and Albion Street intersection will be

terminated The portion of Railroad Street passing beneath U.S.

6 will be terminated

Alternatives Considered

No Build Does not meet purpose and need of project

Bridge Replacement only Would address deficiencies with existing bridge

and minimum vertical clearance over Norfolk Southern Railroad

Does not address vertical and horizontal challenges on U.S. 6 with identified vehicular accident history

Does not address the limited intersection sight distances with identified vehicular accident history

Maintenance of Traffic During Construction Existing bridge to remain open to traffic for most of

construction period Short term closures will occur while U.S. 6 is aligned with

new bridge approaches and installation of a box culvert is completed

Official detour will utilize state maintained routes: S.R. 9 S.R. 8 S.R. 3

Real Estate Acquisition Process

Bridge Replacement with Roadway Realignment

Right-of-way Permanent R/W: approximately 6.3 acres

total Residential – 1.5 Agricultural - 4.8

Two residential relocations/displacements Temporary R/W: 0.7 acres

Residential Permanent R/W is land purchased and

subsequently owned by INDOT for the purposes of project construction

Temporary R/W is land INDOT pays to use for construction purposes, but is not owned by INDOT, but rather the property owner

Real Estate Acquisition Process

"Uniform Act of 1970" All federal, state and local governments must

comply Requires an offer for just compensation

Acquisition Process Appraisals Review Appraisals Negotiations

INDOT Real Estate Team to work with impacted property owners

Project Schedule

Public Hearing: October 2015

Public comments requested by COB 11/06/15

INDOT review and consideration of comments; finalize environmental document and design – Late 2015

Real estate acquisition phase – 2016

Construction: 2017

Feedback

INDOT would like to hear from you Talk with INDOT project team members Comment sheet in information packet E-mail or mail comments to INDOT Sign-in list to be added to project mailing list Visit INDOT Fort Wayne District page at

http://www.in.gov/indot/2703.htm All comments are very much appreciated and

will be given full consideration by project team

Submit Public Comments

Submit public comments using the options described in first page of information packet:

Public Comment Form Via e-mail Participating during public comment session via

microphone Verbal comments recorded and transcribed for inclusion

into public hearings transcript INDOT respectfully requests comments be

submitted by Friday, November 6, 2015. All comments submitted will become part of

public record, entered into transcript, reviewed, evaluated and given full consideration during decision making process.

Next Steps

Public and project stakeholder input Submit comments via options described on page 1 of

information packet INDOT review and evaluation

All comments are given full consideration during decision-making process

Address comments, finalize/approve environmental document, complete project design

Communicate a decision INDOT will notify persons on mailing list of decision Work through local media outlets and paid legal notice Make project documents accessible via repositories

Questions? Contact Public Involvement Team

Public Involvement Team

Rickie ClarkINDOT Office of Public Involvement (317) 232-6601 rclark@indot.in.gov

Nichole Hachathomas INDOT Fort Wayne District Media Relations

(866) 227-3555 nhachathomas@indot.in.gov

Title VI Public Involvement Survey Title VI Public Involvement Survey

Voluntary Survey to assist INDOT in ensuring our programs and activities comply with Title VI of Civil Right Act of 1964

Monitor Track Document

Documentation is submitted to Federal Highway Administration

INDOT evaluates survey data and modifies its programs and project development activities to ensure our projects benefit everyone equally

Thank You

Please visit with INDOT project officials following the public comment session

Project Open House Project maps, displays, real estate acquisition

table, INDOT project team and informal Q & A View environmental document on INDOT Fort

Wayne District page http://www.in.gov/indot/2703.htm

Public Comment Session