Bridge Replacement and Road Realignment on U.S. 6 over Norfolk Southern Railroad Albion Municipal Building Thursday, October 22, 2015

Welcome 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 Introduction of INDOT Project Team Project Management Public Involvement Fort Wayne District – INDOT Regional Office Environmental Assessment & Review Environmental Services Real Estate Beam, Longest & Neff Design Team Recognition of elected and local public officials

Public Hearing 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) October 7 th and 14 th 2015

Project Stakeholders 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 Selection Early Coordination Environmental phase begins Purpose & Need Develop alternatives Preliminary design phase Release environmental document for public review and comment Additional work to finalize environmental document Finalize project design Real Estate Acquisition Utility Coordination Construction Project Development Process Public Hearing

Environmental Document Requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Requires INDOT to analyze and evaluate the impacts of a proposed project to the natural and socio- economic environments Impacts are described in environmental document Environmental document released for public involvement September 2015 Available for review via public repositories and at public hearing

Environmental Document 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 (866) INDOT Website location: INDOT Office of Public Involvement, IGCN Room N North Senate Avenue Indianapolis, IN (317) Noble County Central Public Library 813 East Main Street Albion, IN (260)

A number of items are evaluated Right-of-way Streams, Wetlands, and Other Waters Floodplains Endangered Species Farmland Cultural Resources (Historic/Archaeological) Parks and Recreational Lands (Trails) Air Quality Noise Community Impacts Environmental Justice Hazardous Materials Permits Mitigation Public Involvement Commercial Development Environmental Documentation

Bridge Replacement & Road Realignment Does proposal involve impacts to historic structures and/or places? Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) 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 Purpose and Need 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 INDOT data indicates the following incidents occurring between on U.S. 6 within the project area: 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 Proposed U.S. 6 Bridge replacement over Norfolk Southern Railroad and Roadway realignment 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 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 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 160-foot Single Span Steel Plate Girder Bridge 40’-8” Clear Roadway MSE Retaining Wall Abutments to Minimize the Span Length

Preferred Alternative 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 No Build Does not meet purpose and need of project Bridge Replacement only 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 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 Right-of-way Permanent R/W: approximately 6.3 acres total Residential – 1.5 Agricultural 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

Real Estate Acquisition Process "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 Public Hearing: October 2015 Public comments requested by COB 11/06/15 INDOT review and consideration of comments; finalize environmental document and design – Late 2015 Real estate acquisition phase – 2016 Construction: 2017

Feedback INDOT would like to hear from you Talk with INDOT project team members Comment sheet in information packet or mail comments to INDOT Sign-in list to be added to project mailing list Visit INDOT Fort Wayne District page at All comments are very much appreciated and will be given full consideration by project team

Submit Public Comments Submit public comments using the options described in first page of information packet: Public Comment Form Via 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, All comments submitted will become part of public record, entered into transcript, reviewed, evaluated and given full consideration during decision making process.

Next Steps Public and project stakeholder input Submit comments via options described on page 1 of information packet INDOT review and evaluation All comments are given full consideration during decision-making process Address comments, finalize/approve environmental document, complete project design Communicate a decision 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 Rickie Clark INDOT Office of Public Involvement (317) Nichole Hachathomas INDOT Fort Wayne District Media Relations (866)

Title VI Public Involvement Survey Voluntary Survey to assist INDOT in ensuring our programs and activities comply with Title VI of Civil Right Act of 1964 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 Please visit with INDOT project officials following the public comment session Project Open House Project maps, displays, real estate acquisition table, INDOT project team and informal Q & A View environmental document on INDOT Fort Wayne District page

Public Comment Session