Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
INDOT reclassification likely to delay Bridge 231 rehabilitation; county to revise schedule and funding plan
Summary
Consultants told Marshall County commissioners that Indiana Department of Transportation indicated Bridge 231 on Center Street in Raymond will be reclassified from "nonselect" to "select," likely changing it from a replacement project to a rehabilitation and extending the project timeline and design work.
Laurie Johnson, a project manager with engineering firm DLZ, told Marshall County commissioners on Oct. 6 that Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) staff had signaled an intent to reclassify Bridge 231 on Center Street in Raymond from "nonselect" to "select," a change that typically shifts a project from replacement toward rehabilitation.
Johnson said INDOT’s notice is not yet an official memo; DLZ is awaiting a formal written statement from INDOT that explains the rationale and the requirements. Until the county receives that memo, DLZ said it cannot finalize next steps. The consultant expects that the reclassification will require revisions to the current design and likely push the project’s letting date beyond the August 2027 date currently listed.
"We don't have the official memo yet. We're awaiting that from INDOT to give us the details and the reasoning," Johnson said. She added that a Technical Transportation Committee (TTEC) meeting had asked the county to prepare a memo to push its right-of-way funding into the next fiscal year because the reclassification will extend the schedule.
DLZ reported that its earlier benefit-cost analysis favored replacement over rehabilitation, and a change to rehabilitation may not reduce overall county costs. Johnson said the firm will prepare an updated memo outlining schedule and cost implications, including potential impacts to right-of-way and nearby properties; she flagged a nearby property with a basement wall that shares a wing wall with the bridge as a possible complication that will require additional investigation.
Commissioners directed staff to wait for INDOT’s formal memo and asked DLZ to provide a county memo and a presentation for MACOG (Metropolitan Area Council of Governments) outlining the county’s recommended next steps. The county’s right-of-way funds for the project were scheduled for the coming fiscal year; DLZ said it would prepare materials to request that those funds be shifted to the later fiscal year if the reclassification is finalized.
No formal decision altering county funding was made at the meeting; staff will return when INDOT’s memo arrives and after DLZ completes revised design implications and cost estimates.
