Work begins Friday

Work to bring Dunkirk’s sidewalk ramps up to code will begin soon. The repaving of its main road should follow shortly.

Indiana Department of Transportation is planning to repave Indiana 167 (Main Street) from Indiana 67 in Albany to the northern city limits of Dunkirk this summer. As part of the project, Dunkirk’s sidewalk ramps throughout the city will be made ADA-compliant and bump-outs will be installed at the intersection of Main and Commerce streets.

The concrete work for replacing the ramps and pouring the bump-outs is slated to start Friday, with the road work to follow after.

“They didn’t give me, really, a start date on the highway. It’s just after the concrete work gets done,” said Dunkirk Mayor Jack Robbins. “I don’t think they’re going to push it down the road too far because … They’ve got so much work. They’re going to have to get in and get out.”

While Dunkirk currently has sidewalk ramps in place, they are not up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The bump-outs, which will extend the sidewalks at Commerce and Main streets several feet out into the street, were a compromise to keep the intersection’s traffic light in place. Bump-outs, also known as curb extensions, also help slow traffic and make crossing the street safer for pedestrians.

Originally, INDOT had planned to remove the light at Commerce and Main streets, as the poles did not allow enough space on the sidewalk to install the ADA-compliant ramps at the intersection. Additionally, the state cited few accidents and low traffic density as reasons to remove it. However, citizens of Dunkirk rallied to keep the light in place by writing letters, making phone calls and attending a public meeting hosted by INDOT last April.

“It was quite the crowd. I was proud of Dunkirk coming together like that,” Robbins said. “That’s what the citizens need to do, come out and voice their opinions.”

It will likely be a few weeks until Dunkirk sees actual road work in the city, as INDOT is planning to start the milling and repaving of Indiana 167 in Albany and end the project in Dunkirk.

The construction crew is not planning to close the road or detour traffic during the project, Robbins said, but will likely shut down lanes and have flaggers to direct drivers.

“We’ve got too many semis coming in and out to our glass factory,” Robbins said. “They’ll have to leave one side open; traffic will have to flow.”

The work, which is entirely state-funded, will help improve the condition of the highway, which Robbins said is beginning to show its age.

“The roads are going to be a lot better. It was, I think, 10 or 11 years ago when they re-did it, so you’re starting to get some cracks and stuff in the asphalt that water can get down in,” Robbins said. “Once that happens and it starts freezing … you start getting your potholes.”

While the project has a slated end date of Nov. 1, Robbins said he does not anticipate the work continuing for that long. But in the meantime, he asked drivers to be patient during the construction. 

“They just need to bear with us. It’s going to be a little inconvenient,” Robbins said. “We’re just going to have to put up with this for a little while, and I think that they’re going to be happy with what they see after it’s done.”