Elkhart County highway interns report traffic counts, construction observation and asset‑management work
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Summary
Six summer interns presented the Highway Department's 2025 program, describing traffic counts, intersection evaluations, construction observation on Sunnyside and County Road 20 projects, and work on sign replacement and asset-management data.
Elkhart County Highway Department summer interns presented their 2025 end-of-year report to the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 4, describing fieldwork and data tasks that supported traffic studies, construction observation and the county’s asset-management system.
“Every one of them did a variety of things,” said Jim Jackson of the highway department while introducing the group. The department said it completed more than 310 traffic counts this summer and 18 traffic-safety evaluations; interns recommended changes at 12 intersections that are being processed for later presentation to the commissioners.
Interns demonstrated two traffic-counting methods: portable rubber tubes for lower-volume roads and a Wavetronix radar system for wider or higher-traffic routes. An intern said the counts are used to calculate average daily traffic, 85th-percentile speeds, vehicle classifications and crash-history comparisons that inform stop-control and speed-limit recommendations.
On construction observation, interns described visiting major projects including the Sunnyside realignment (an INDOT project) and County Road 20 reconstruction near Middlebury. Jensen Long said interns took photos and reviewed construction plans to confirm work matched specifications and relayed requests for information to licensed engineers.
“Whenever we had a problem at the construction site, those requests for information would be sent out to the engineers,” Jensen Long said. He described verifying rebar installations and attending progress meetings every two weeks.
Interns also worked on paving inspections, verifying truck tickets, and helped prepare a sign-replacement bid package for roughly 3,800 signs. One intern summarized asset-management work: converting about 30 years of driveway-permit records from CSV/text files into searchable records for county use. Another said the interns mapped more than 1,500 drainage structures in three townships as part of a three-year cycle.
The board and staff praised the program; one commissioner said the interns had “gotten into the weeds a little bit more” this year and thanked them for their work.
The department identified Justin Bowers and Jeff Hershberger as managers of the summer intern program and said the internship has been a continuing recruitment pipeline for engineering staff.
