What Mayor Joe Wellman called the “biggest, farthest reaching, and most expensive” project in his term as Mayor, the rebuilding of the old U.S. 50 corridor is on schedule to begin later this year. Wednesday, Wellman gave the Washington Rotary Club an update on the major infrastructure project.
The Old U.S. 50 corridor through Washington is the most heavily used business and residential road in Daviess County. Wellman said that construction plans for the road date from 1929 and the utilities lines under the road are estimated to be nearly 90 years old, too. The city’s plan is to rebuild the road’s base, resurface and reconfigure the road so that there is a center turn lane, replace sidewalks with new sidewalks and a multiuse path, and put in new lighting. The road project will cost approximately $17 million, with the State of Indiana picking up 87% of the cost. The City of Washington will contribute $2 million, and Daviess County will contribute $1 million to the rebuilding the road. While the road work is going on, the Mayor said it was a good time to replace and relocate the aging utility lines. According to the plans, the utilities to be relocated are water, sewer, and gas lines from under the road, and power lines above ground, to under the sidewalk and a multi-use path. The utility work will cost the City approximately $ 8 million, with the funding coming from bonds and utility fees.
The long term project has been divided into three sections: Section 1 runs from State Street to the round-about; Section 2, runs from S.E. Third to the west city limits; and Section 3 encompasses the busiest part of the road, from State Street to S.E. Third. The Mayor said that work on Section 1 would begin later this summer and with few residents, businesses and utilities to deal with would be done relatively quickly. Work on utilities in Section 2 would also begin later this year, and the Mayor warned that areas of Section 2 would probably be gravel and rock through the winter and spring as work proceeds. The most difficult area of the project will be Section 3. With over 100 residences and 80 businesses, several with their only entrance on Old 50, the Mayor said it would be impossible to completely close the road during construction. The timeline for completion of Section 3 of the project is sometime in 2023 or 2024.
The Mayor said his goal has been to have the planning and financing in place before he leaves office at the end of this year. The Mayor also noted that the inconvenience caused by the road work over the next few years would result in long-term benefits for the City of Washington and Daviess County.