Changing pattern

Those driving through downtown Portland will see new traffic patterns beginning next week.

Brooks Construction, which is handling Indiana Department of Transportation’s current Meridian Street (U.S. 27) project in the city, announced that temporary stops signs will be in place beginning next week as it works to replace traffic signals and install curb ramps.

In a press release, INDOT says traffic signals along U.S. 27 at its intersections with Water, Main, Walnut, High and Lafayette streets will be removed beginning “on or after Monday, April 29.”

Temporary stops signs will be placed at the intersection of Meridian and Water streets, making it a four-way stop. The other intersections involved will become two-way stops, with traffic free-flowing along Meridian Street. (Temporary “buzz strips” will be placed along Meridian Street at each intersection in an effort to encourage drivers to slow down.)

The traffic signal removal is part of a larger project that includes Brooks, a Fort Wayne company, paving Meridian Street between county roads 100 North and 200 South. It also includes reconstructing Americans with Disabilities Act ramps to sidewalks with extended “bump outs” at some intersections in the downtown area.

The street will stay open during construction with temporary lane restrictions.

Another INDOT project that has resulted in a change in traffic patterns involves HIS Constructors of Indianapolis putting a new deck on the Indiana 67 bridge over the Salamonie River between county road 125 South and Indiana 26. New guardrails will also be installed. A temporary traffic signal has been installed with the area just south of Jay County High School reduced to one lane.

Just south of Jay County, Milestone Contractors is replacing the U.S. 27 bridge over the Mississinewa River between Indiana 28 and Randolph County road 850 North. The highway will remain open during the project but will be reduced to one lane. Temporary traffic signals will be in place. There is a “wide load restriction” during the project, with the detour posted as Indiana 28, Indiana 1 and Indiana 67.

In Delaware County, about a 4-mile section of Indiana 67 — from the Indiana 28/Indiana 67 split to Mississinewa Avenue (Indiana 167) — is closed for an INDOT project to demolish and rebuild a bridge over the Mississinewa River. The bridge is located between Black Mills Road and the Indiana 28/Indiana 67 split, near Delaware County road 425 East.

The official detour for the project utilizes Indiana 28, Indiana 3, Indiana 26 and Indiana 167.