The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will study potential upgrades to two major highways. Planning and environmental linkages studies will soon begin for the U.S. 30 and U.S. 31 corridors.
INDOT spokesperson Natalie Garrett says they're a first step to identifying needs and potential solutions. “We have not yet identified specific alternatives that we’ll be looking at. Essentially, we’re starting with a clean slate, as we move forward with these studies,” Garrett explained during a press conference Friday.
The 180-mile study area includes U.S. 30 from Valparaiso to the Ohio state line and U.S. 31 from Plymouth to Hamilton County, excluding existing bypasses. Over the next two years, INDOT will take input from local communities, along with anyone else who uses the highways.
Project manager Sandra Flum says the studies were prompted by the U.S. 30 and U.S. 31 coalitions — which have long advocated for upgrading the highways to freeway standards. “We needed to make sure that the corridors were treated consistently and the projects worked together, and so this is the kind of study that helps us look at those as corridors and helps us make sure they work together,” Flum said.
INDOT expects to present its findings in the fall of 2024.