Bridge Replacement and Road
Realignment on U.S. 6 over
Norfolk Southern Railroad
Albion Municipal Building
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Welcome
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Rickie Clark, INDOT Office of Public Involvement
Purpose/explanation of public hearing
Public hearing format
Visit our sign-in table
Informational handouts
Submitting public comments for hearings
transcript
Project display area
Welcome
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Introduction of INDOT Project Team
 Project Management
 Public Involvement
 Fort Wayne District – INDOT Regional Office
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Environmental Services
 Real Estate
Beam, Longest & Neff
 Design Team
Recognition of elected and local public officials
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Environmental Assessment & Review
Public Hearing
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Sign-in at attendance table to be added to project
mailing list
A public hearing notice was mailed to known property
owners within project area
Announcement of this hearing was posted to INDOT
website. A media release was also issued
A copy of presentation and project documentation is
available on-line via INDOT website
Legal notice publishing:
 The News Sun (Kendallville)
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October 7th and 14th 2015
Project Stakeholders
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Indiana Department of Transportation
Indiana Division Federal Highway Administration
Noble County
Towns of Albion & Brimfield
Elected public officials
Community residents and citizens
Commuters
Businesses
Emergency services
Schools
Project Development Process
Project Selection
Early
Coordination
Environmental
phase begins
Purpose & Need
Develop
alternatives
Preliminary
design phase
Release
environmental
document for
public review and
comment
Public Hearing
Additional work
to finalize
environmental
document
Finalize project
design
Real Estate
Acquisition
Utility
Coordination
Construction
Environmental Document
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Requirement of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
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Requires INDOT to analyze and evaluate the impacts
of a proposed project to the natural and socioeconomic environments
Impacts are described in environmental document
Environmental document released for public
involvement
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September 2015
Available for review via public repositories and at public
hearing
Environmental Document
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Environmental Phase of Project Development
 Establish Purpose and Need
 Develop a number of possible alternatives
 The “Do Nothing” alternative is a baseline for
comparison
 Evaluate and screen alternatives
 Identify a preferred alternative
 Solicit public comment on environmental document
and preliminary design plan
 Solicit, address and fully consider public comment as
part of decision-making process
 Finalize and approve environmental document
Environmental Documentation
INDOT Fort Wayne District Office
Environmental Services Department
5333 Hatfield Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46808
(866) 227-3555
INDOT Website location: http://www.fortwayne.indot.in.gov
INDOT Office of Public Involvement, IGCN Room N642
100 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 232-6601
Email: [email protected]
Noble County Central Public Library
813 East Main Street
Albion, IN 46701
(260) 636-7197
Environmental Documentation
A number of items are evaluated
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Right-of-way
Streams, Wetlands, and
Other Waters
Floodplains
Endangered Species
Farmland
Cultural Resources
(Historic/Archaeological)
Parks and Recreational
Lands (Trails)
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Air Quality
Noise
Community Impacts
Environmental Justice
Hazardous Materials
Permits
Mitigation
Public Involvement
Commercial Development
Bridge Replacement & Road Realignment
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Does proposal involve impacts to historic
structures and/or places?
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act (NHPA)
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Requires federal agencies to take into account the effects
of their undertakings on historic properties
This proposal does not involve any properties eligible for
National Register of Historic Places
INDOT and FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) will
issue a “no historic properties affected” determination
Public hearing is an opportunity to comment on INDOT
and FHWA determination
Bridge Replacement & Road Realignment
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Purpose and Need
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Enhance safety by addressing deficiencies with existing
bridge and road alignment
Enhance vertical clearance over Norfolk Southern Railroad
Address road elevation transitions
Improve intersection sight distances
Address vertical and horizontal curvatures on U.S. 6
Improve safety for residents and roadways users
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INDOT data indicates the following incidents occurring between
1993-2013 on U.S. 6 within the project area:
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66 vehicular accidents
17 personal injuries, 2 fatalities
Incidents related to vertical & horizontal curvatures, sight distances and
location of intersecting roadways on U.S. 6
Project Overview
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Proposed U.S. 6 Bridge replacement over Norfolk
Southern Railroad and Roadway realignment
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Project limits are from 0.5 mile east of State Road 9 (south
junction) to 0.3 mile east of Francis Street in Town of Brimfield
Replace existing U.S. 6 Bridge
 Bridge originally constructed in 1966
 Deck reconstructed in 1987
 A new structure must accommodate two additional railroad
tracks
 Enhance vertical clearance requirements
 Existing vertical clearance is 22ft and 2 inches
 Proposed new bridge vertical clearance will be 23ft
Realign U.S. 6 in close proximity to the existing bridge
with road reconstruction
Preferred Alternative
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Replace existing bridge with a new bridge approximately
100 feet west of current location
Address vertical and horizontal movements associated
with the identified vehicular accident history
 U.S. 6 to be realigned and reconstructed
 Access to U.S. 6 will be eliminated
 County Road 100 East (southern end of project)
 Albion Street (northern end of project)
 Access elimination necessary to enhance safety
Drainage
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Drainage
 Existing drainage patterns to be maintained
 Utilize roadside and trackside ditches as primary
drainage means
Project will impact Weaver Regulated Drain Tile
Permitting will be required with ongoing coordination to
mitigate impact to drain tile
Preferred Alternative
PREFERRED ALIGNMENT
Preferred Alternative
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160-foot Single Span Steel Plate Girder Bridge
40’-8” Clear Roadway
MSE Retaining Wall Abutments to Minimize the Span Length
Preferred Alternative
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Speed limit for U.S. 6 will remain 40 mph
Maximum grade of U.S. 6 will be 4.96%
12-foot travel lanes
8-foot usable shoulders, 4 foot paved
U.S. 6 and C.R. 100 E intersection will be terminated
U.S. 6 and Albion Street intersection will be terminated
The portion of Railroad Street passing beneath U.S. 6 will be
terminated
Alternatives Considered
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No Build
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Does not meet purpose and need of project
Bridge Replacement only
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Would address deficiencies with existing bridge and
minimum vertical clearance over Norfolk Southern
Railroad
Does not address vertical and horizontal challenges
on U.S. 6 with identified vehicular accident history
Does not address the limited intersection sight
distances with identified vehicular accident history
Maintenance of Traffic During Construction
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Existing bridge to remain open to traffic for most of construction
period
Short term closures will occur while U.S. 6 is aligned with new
bridge approaches and installation of a box culvert is completed
Official detour will utilize state maintained routes:
 S.R. 9
 S.R. 8
 S.R. 3
Real Estate Acquisition Process
Bridge Replacement with Roadway Realignment
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Right-of-way
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Permanent R/W: approximately 6.3 acres total
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Two residential relocations/displacements
Temporary R/W: 0.7 acres
Residential
Permanent R/W is land purchased and subsequently
owned by INDOT for the purposes of project
construction
Temporary R/W is land INDOT pays to use for
construction purposes, but is not owned by INDOT, but
rather the property owner
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Residential – 1.5
Agricultural - 4.8
Real Estate Acquisition Process
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"Uniform Act of 1970"
 All federal, state and local governments must comply
 Requires an offer for just compensation
Acquisition Process
 Appraisals
 Review Appraisals
 Negotiations
INDOT Real Estate Team to work with impacted
property owners
Project Schedule
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Public Hearing: October 2015
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Public comments requested by COB 11/06/15
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INDOT review and consideration of comments; finalize
environmental document and design – Late 2015
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Real estate acquisition phase – 2016
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Construction: 2017
Feedback
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INDOT would like to hear from you
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Talk with INDOT project team members
Comment sheet in information packet
E-mail or mail comments to INDOT
Sign-in list to be added to project mailing list
Visit INDOT Fort Wayne District page at
http://www.in.gov/indot/2703.htm
All comments are very much appreciated and will be
given full consideration by project team
Submit Public Comments
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Submit public comments using the options
described in first page of information packet:
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Public Comment Form
Via e-mail
Participating during public comment session via microphone
Verbal comments recorded and transcribed for inclusion into
public hearings transcript
INDOT respectfully requests comments be
submitted by Friday, November 6, 2015.
All comments submitted will become part of public
record, entered into transcript, reviewed, evaluated and
given full consideration during decision making process.
Next Steps
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Public and project stakeholder input
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INDOT review and evaluation
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All comments are given full consideration during decision-making
process
Address comments, finalize/approve environmental document,
complete project design
Communicate a decision
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Submit comments via options described on page 1 of
information packet
INDOT will notify persons on mailing list of decision
Work through local media outlets and paid legal notice
Make project documents accessible via repositories
Questions? Contact Public Involvement Team
Public Involvement Team
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Rickie Clark
INDOT Office of Public Involvement
(317) 232-6601
[email protected]
Nichole Hachathomas
INDOT Fort Wayne District Media Relations
(866) 227-3555
[email protected]
Title VI Public Involvement Survey
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Title VI Public Involvement Survey
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Voluntary Survey to assist INDOT in ensuring our
programs and activities comply with Title VI of Civil
Right Act of 1964
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Monitor
Track
Document
Documentation is submitted to Federal Highway
Administration
INDOT evaluates survey data and modifies its
programs and project development activities to
ensure our projects benefit everyone equally
Thank You
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Please visit with INDOT project officials
following the public comment session
Project Open House
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Project maps, displays, real estate acquisition table,
INDOT project team and informal Q & A
View environmental document on INDOT Fort
Wayne District page
http://www.in.gov/indot/2703.htm
Public Comment Session