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Plans for East Street overpass discussed By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com Planning for the East Street overpass is roughly 60 percent complete, and officials from the Indiana Department of Transportation, the City of Wabash and the engineering firm WSP are targeting a Fall 2024 target date to complete work. That was the takeaway Tuesday evening from a public open house that took place in the Eagles Theatre ballroom. About 30 people, mostly from the area affected by the project, attended the hour long gathering. The overpass would stretch along East Street from Hill to Maple streets. “The road is currently at the same elevation of the railroad,” George Watson of WSP told those present. “At the end of this project, East Street is going to be roughly 27 feet higher than the railroad. In order to get that amount of clearance,
George Watson, with the engineering firm WPS, discusses an artist rendering of the East Street overpass with a local resident who attended the April 26 meeting. Photo by Joseph Slacian
we need to build up a hill. What you’re seeing … is essentially slopes that go back down to existing grade.” The grassy slopes would be maintained by the city, Mayor Scott Long said during a question and answer period after the presentation. “This is the shortest
project length in order to get an overpass through the railroad, the least number of intersections and the least number of properties and the least number of parcels, or properties affected,” Watson continued. “We hope to provide a corridor through Wabash with uninterrupted north-south traffic any-
time a train is stopped. There is an issue with the hospital being on the north side of town. “If, for example, there is a mile long train that stops in town, there’s just not an alternate route on the east side of town, and the west side of town, the alternate route can get flooded pretty easily. We want
to increase safety by doing this project here.” The project also will improve pedestrian crossing over the railroad with a sidewalk on the east side of the overpass, Watson noted. There also will be a 10-foot chain link fence on the overpass, which is required by the railroad.
The 60 percent of the project that is completed includes the selected site, as well as elevation and a project footprint finalized, he continued. Still to be finalized are lighting issues, final design, structural design, an environmental study, final drainage design and utility issues. “All that is going on now,” he said of the $11.1 million project. Federal and state funding will provide $9.2 million, with the remainder coming from city coffers. “Also, as part of this project, we are proposing some at-grade crossings for closure,” Watson said, noting that those would be the crossings at Spring, Huntington and Thorne streets. “The schedule for this is not yet set. We try not to close things before the bridge is built.” The additional closures are all part of the goals of the Trax project to make things safer and reduce the Continued on Page 7
Lieutenant Governor pays visit to Lagro By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch paid a visit to downtown Lagro on Thursday, April 28, to see several of the revitalization projects taking place in the community. Crouch, State Sen. Andy Zay, State Rep. Craig Snow and others toured the buildings being refurbished by the Lagro Canal Foundation. The Foundation received funding from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs to help with the project. They also saw the
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Hopewell House, which is undergoing a major renovation, and the Lagro United Methodist Church, which also received OCRA funding to help restore its stained glass window. Foundation member Lavonne Sparling told the visitors about the buildings – a former bank, a former hardware store and Masonic Lodge, and the former Improved Order of the Red Man lodge. In addition, the entourage learned about the Wabash River Trail, the 950 Speakeasy Bistro and several other projects
taking place around the community. After the tour, the group had lunch at the Bistro. “As Lieutenant Governor, I oversee OCRA – the Office of Community and Rural Affairs – and it provided a little over $100,000 in grant money through the Historic Grant Program to revitalize these beautiful historic buildings,” Crouch told The Paper of Wabash County. “What we’re seeing, and the intention of the administration and the General Assembly, is to support our small rural communities because we believe
they are the next great economic opportunity for us. “What we saw during COVID is we are starting to leave the more urban areas and wanting that quality of life that they find in small town Indiana. In order to attract people you have to have that quality of life. It makes them want to come. “That’s what is happening here in Lagro, and we see it all over Indiana – just a revitalization of our small towns and communities coming together to support these kind of projects, and also grow the economic opportunity that is here.
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Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch (right) chats with Christine Floor, Visit Wabash County executive director (from left) and Lagro Canal Foundation representative Lavonne Sparling. Photo by Joseph Slacian “It’s exciting to be here and see a small town become a big personality.” In addition to Crouch’s visit, Visit
Wabash County also sponsored a trolley tour on Thursday to show off some of the safe sites around Lagro.
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