Bridge work starts Monday

Traffic patterns through Portland will be different beginning next week.

Milestone Contractors informed local officials Wednesday that U.S. 27 (Meridian Street) would be closed beginning Monday for an Indiana Department of Transportation project involving two bridges on the highway.

The closure affects the area between Water Street and county road 200 South.

The INDOT work being completed by Milestone involves repairs to the Meridian Street arch bridge that spans the Salamonie River near East Jay Elementary School and the U.S. 27 bridge over the Little Salamonie River near Portland Country Club.

The arch bridge project is the more extensive of the two, with work expected to last about 45 days.

According to an INDOT project information packet prepared in August, it will include:

•Milling and patching of the bridge deck. A new “flexible polymeric concrete bridge deck overlay” will then be installed.

•Removal of steel railings and light fixtures. Paint will be removed, and steel components will be galvanized and painted in a black matte finish. They will be reinstalled with new hardware.

•Masonry on the arch, columns and other areas will be cleaned. Deteriorating concreted will be removed and patched.

•The sidewalk and curbs will be sealed.

•Meridian Street will be paved 50 feet in each direction from the bridge.

The bridge over the Little Salamonie near the golf course will get a new concrete overlay. That work is expected to take 15 days.

The official INDOT detour will re-route traffic along Indiana 28, Indiana 1 and Indiana 67. (Semis must follow the official detour.) Detours for local traffic will use county road 200 South, Blaine Pike and Floral Avenue for the bridge near the golf course, and Seventh, Wayne and Water streets for the arch bridge.

The shutdown of the section of U.S. 27 will also require some different traffic patterns for East Jay Elementary School.

School parents will be provided with an entry pass to display in their vehicle to allow temporary access via Meridian Street during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times only. Those dropping off or picking up students may also enter from Water Street. Students are not to be dropped off on the west side of the building. Jay School Corporation suggests building extra time into the pick-up/drop-off process as delays are expected during the construction process.

The bridge work was initially included as part of a larger U.S. 27 project that called for paving the highway through Portland, “right-sizing” Meridian Street between Water and Votaw streets to one lane in each direction with an alternating left-turn lane, making parking parallel on one side of the street and “reverse angle” on the other and removing traffic signals at Meridian Street’s intersections with Walnut and High Streets.

Portions of that project — mainly the reduction in lanes, reverse-angle parking and removal of traffic signals — drew significant public opposition after they were introduced in 2019.

The bridge work is now its own project. Portland Mayor John Boggs said last week that the paving is now scheduled for summer 2023.