Intersection of Bass and Scott re-opens

Hats off to the Allen County Highway Department on two separate counts on this project:

1. This intersection was scheduled to be closed until the end of December to complete this construction. Bringing it in 30 days early is outstanding!

2. The results - I was amazed as I approached Scott Road's "t-intersection" with Bass Road today. Before the improvements (including hill cuts), one had to nose nearly into the eastbound traffic lane of Bass to see oncoming traffic. And you couldn't see very far due to hills in each direction. Now you can easily see a good half mile in either direction before you even get near the intersection!

Grateful thanks to public servants for a job well done!

Traffic Signal at Jorgensen YMCA starting Thursday

The long overdue stoplight at the intersection of Aboite Center Road and Westlakes Drive will be activated at 2 pm this Thursday. Crews just finished repainting the new road lines and stop bars today. This is a welcome sight at this bustling intersection that serves the Westlakes addition, the YMCA, and Indian Trails Park.

Time Corners project begins today

Multiphase project to be complete by October, expect lane restrictions



From the City of Fort Wayne website:

TIME CORNERS TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT PROJECT STARTS MONDAY

The first phase of the Time Corners traffic improvement project is scheduled to start Monday, March 3. This project will involve the intersections of Jefferson Boulevard and Getz and Covington roads.

For about two weeks starting Monday, westbound traffic on Jefferson will be down to one lane. Eastbound traffic on Jefferson will be maintain two through lanes. The City’s Traffic Engineering Department will provide updates to traffic pattern modifications throughout the project.

City officials expect traffic congestion in this area throughout construction and encourage motorists to find alternate routes.

This is the first of 12 phases of construction in this high-traffic area. City Engineer Dave Ross said the City is doing the project incrementally to keep some lanes open throughout construction, which is important to the businesses in the area. Ross said the project is scheduled to be complete by Oct. 25.

The realignment of intersections and turn lanes will ultimately improve traffic flow, although drivers will have to get accustomed to new traffic patterns, said Public Works Director Bob Kennedy.

“These intersections are getting the attention they need,” Kennedy said. “We are anticipating the construction will cause traffic congestion, but this temporary inconvenience is going to be a long-term solution to a heavily traveled area.”

There are five areas of concentration for improvement:

1. Realigning the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Covington Road, making the section of Covington Road between Jefferson and Getz Road two-way.

2. Reconfiguring the existing Jefferson entrance to Time Corners shopping center for only a right-turn entrance from Jefferson.

3. Adding a shopping center new entrance east of the current one with a traffic signal allowing for both right- and left-turn entrances from Jefferson.

4. Eliminating the left turn from southbound Getz to Jefferson by allowing drivers to use the new two-way Covington Road to Jefferson. Both directions of Jefferson will also have reconstructed left-turn lanes onto Getz.

5. At the intersection of Getz and Covington, Getz will have two through lanes and a left-turn lane in each direction. There will be no left turn from westbound Covington onto Getz, but it will have a dedicated right-turn lane.

Other parts of the project include new street lighting, curb and gutter improvements and replacing the grass median on Jefferson with a curbed median with grass in the middle. A new sidewalk on the east side of Getz from Wilkie Drive to the Time Corners entrance will also be added. Traffic signals will be updated to the new traffic patterns.

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World's "Most Dangerous Road"

A car travels the road connecting the city of La Paz to the Coroico in the North Yungas , Bolivia. In 1995 the road was tagged as the Worlds Most Dangerous Road by the Inter-American Development Bank. The term "road", used quite loosely here, is little more than a narrow dirt track barely three yards wide, which descends nearly 11,800 ft. in just 40 miles. With no other options currently available, vehicles are forced to drive it, resulting in hundreds of annual deaths as trucks, buses and passenger cars fall thousands of feet down.

Every year it is estimated 200 to 300 people die on a stretch of road less than 50 miles long. In one year alone, 25 vehicles plunged off the road and into the ravine. That is one every two weeks. Here high in the Andes, they are building a new road, a by-pass, to replace the old one. But this is Bolivia, and already it has been 20 years in the making. Who knows when it will be complete? Until it is, people will have to continue offering up their prayers, and taking their lives in their hands on the most dangerous road in the world.

Part One


Part Two


Part Three

Time Corners Contract Approved

Benjamin Lanka from the Journal Gazette reports:

A long-awaited project on Fort Wayne’s southwest side took another step toward reality Wednesday morning.

The Fort Wayne Board of Public Works approved a contract between the city and state regarding the road project to realign the intersections at West Jefferson Boulevard, Covington Road and Getz Road, known as Time Corners.

The contract outlines that the city will pay $567,174 of the $3.4 million project. The rest of the money will come from state and federal sources.

The project will expand the short section of Covington Road between Getz Road and Jefferson Boulevard to allow for traffic in both directions. It currently allows only for westbound traffic. It will also change Covington and Jefferson to a four-way signal. The project also removes the current signal into the Time Corners shopping center and installs a new one farther north.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s editions of The Journal Gazette or visit www.journalgazette.net after 7 a.m. Thursday

While Bush fiddles. . .

An advisory system we can truly use:


Maybe he can put Ted Stevens in charge of this:

We have a sign for you as well, Mr.Bush (Get Engvall on the phone):