Draft of U.S. 231 study complete Public hearing next for planned 22-mile expansion 1 July 1998 By Mark D. Stalcup Messenger-Inquirer

ROCKPORT, Ind. - The draft environmental impact study for the reconstruction of U.S. 231 to four lanes through Spencer County was completed Monday.

Now public hearings allowing comment on the planned 22-mile expansion will be slated for late August or early September, most likely at Heritage Hills High School, said Tim Miller, project manager for the Indiana Department of Transportation.

A computer simulation shows what the William H. Natcher Bridge will look like when completed. The bridge is under construction over the Ohio River near Maceo. Photo courtesy of the U.S. 231 Coalition

A final version of the study could take six months longer, Miller said, and would incorporate comments from that public hearing.

Word that INDOT and the U.S. Department of Transportation had reached agreement on the study left local officials elated.

"I couldn't be happier to hear that," said Bill Koch, chairman of the U.S. 231 Coalition, an interstate alliance between Kentucky and Indiana officials which has been encouraging state officials to expedite the expansion.

Plans call for U.S. 231 to be expanded to four lanes for 22 miles between Indiana 66 and Interstate 64, making it a high-speed highway with few stoplights.

The reconstruction will occur in six phases, widening the existing two-lane road to four lanes - two northbound and two southbound, separated by an 80-foot median - at a cost of $87 million.

The group was updated on 231's progress by Miller during its monthly meeting, held in Owensboro Tuesday.

Delays by the federal highway department have meant the study's first draft was completed seven months later than initially expected, pushing the public hearing from January 1998 until early fall.

Miller said the Federal DOT received the initial draft of the environmental study last October for comment, and returned it in early April.

"We believe we have everything worked out now," Miller said. "Some other issues may come up in the hearings. You never know what people are thinking of a project until those."

INDOT officials also said the time the agency took to review the initial draft of the environmental impact statement was actually fairly minimal.

However, Indiana officials' enthusiasm for the study's completion was tempered by INDOT officials' contention that work expanding U.S. 231 cannot begin until 2002 at the earliest.

That's because engineering on the road and land purchases will not likely be completed until then. Wiley has said that will make even a 2002 start difficult.

That talk has left officials concerned that Rockport will be left ill-equipped to handle a projected increase in traffic from the new William H. Natcher Bridge, set to open in 2001.

"That's always been a scary issue for us," said Rockport City Councilman Ferman Yearby III. "We're looking at a situation where if we reroute traffic through Rockport, we could be looking at 27,000 more vehicles (a year) on that two-lane. That's why every time we come to a meeting, we stress that and keep asking can you expedite this."

However, Miller told officials that INDOT has anticipated the increase in traffic, and will install some minor improvements.

Those improvements will include work at the Indiana 162-U.S. 231 intersection, Miller said.

But complicating those concerns, AK Steel's first steel processing line began production earlier this month, three months ahead of schedule.

Because the company now plans to begin production faster than originally anticipated, truck traffic on U.S. 231 will also increase, said Brian T. Coughlin, government affairs manager for AK Steel.

That has company officials concerned over whether the present roadway will meet their needs.

"We are way ahead of schedule, and our second line is now set to begin production in the fourth quarter of 1998 rather than the first quarter of 1999. I don't see a change in that pattern," Coughlin said. "We feel as if this (U.S. 231 expansion) project is going slower than what was originally indicated to us."

Miller said after the project is begun, INDOT could expedite later stages of development.

The largest hurdle is the purchase of property. Should that be expedited, as many local officials believe is possible, the road could come quicker.

Acquiring the right of way for the early stages of work should not be a problem, as AK Steel and American Electric Power are the primary property holders.

Officials from AK Steel assured Miller that they would work toward speedy acquisition of the right-of-way needed for the road work.

About seven property owners would be affected by Phase 1 of the work, Spencer County Engineer Bill Kingrey said.

A total of 20 to 25 homes are in the path of the proposed expansion, and about 1,000 acres of right of way will be required.

Pictoral depiction of the bridge construction Messenger-Inquirer