A project to reroute US 231 to go west of West Lafayette is on hold because the State doesn’t have enough money for the project. The State budgeted $75 million. The cost is now estimated at $98 million. Locals will have to come up with the $23 million for the project to go forward.
The original Major Moves plan was for the project to begin in 2007 and be completed by 2009. Now it won’t get started until at least 2009 and finish in 2011.
The delay in building the road is largely a result of the state’s underestimating how much it will cost to have utilities near the Purdue Airport moved out of the way of the proposed bypass, she said.
The project is also expensive because the state plans to have the road go under Airport Road and the nearby K.B.&S. railroad. To do that, the highway will have to be sunk between 30 and 35 feet below the ground at those two points, Calder said.
Fahey said one way to reduce the cost would be to alter the designs. That could be done by abandoning the plan to build the road below ground, but there is little inclination to make that change, she said.
“You don’t want to build a four-lane highway with at-grade crossings with railroads,” Fahey said.
I guess the Toll Road is out of our hands for the next 73 years. I suppose it would make a certain amount of sense to drag these projects out that long.
It is worth remembering that the Republicans wanted to “get” every penny of the Toll Road “lease” into the ground as quickly as possible at a time when materials and energy prices were spiking rather than using the money as seed money for long term funding. In addition though increases in gas prices are depressing driving, and a switch to higher mileage vehicles, such as hybrids, are beginning to take a bite out of the State’s take from highway fuel taxes. (A number of counties have seen their share of gas tax money decline this year). Our current system for highway funding will simply not work for many more years.
They were talking about this project in the early 90’s when I was at Purdue. They went as far as starting the engineering (scratch,scratch) even though they didn’t have money to build it. It’s worth noting that the project was on hold for well over a decade because the state didn’t have ANY money for the project. Actually, they didn’t even have a plan to get money for the project.
How many years did that new 231 bridge over the Wabash sit with no road to it?
My only question is how can we be out of money for projects that were promised with the passage of the Toll Road lease but find money to give to Carmel for the Keystone project and committed more to another In-Ky bridge?
To be fair, I’m not positive whether the State doesn’t have it or just doesn’t want to use it. The State didn’t budget enough for the project initially. Now that the cost is more, it may just be that the State is unwilling to pay more as opposed to unable.