US 231 project sees black top placed down

Contractors started putting down layers of blacktop around Washington and Jackson streets and the Putnam County Courthouse.

There is light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the US 231 construction project through downtown Greencastle.

This week, contractors started putting down layers of blacktop around Washington and Jackson streets and the Putnam County Courthouse, much to the enjoyment of Greencastle Mayor Lynda Dunbar. 

"The goal is to put the downtown back together. From Vine Street to Franklin, there is asphalt. We now have pavement down and beginning next week, they should start putting curbs and sidewalks in. It is coming along. The goal is to get downtown and Jackson Street back open to relieve some of the traffic on side streets. I don't know what the time frame will be, but it depends on what all needs to be done," Dunbar told the city council. 

Dunbar said there are issues with US 231 in front of City Hall and the issues rest with Frontier, an internet service provider.

"Frontier has yet to clear their lines, creating a lot of havoc. Their inability to get the lines out of there or moved is causing it to go to the higher ups at INDOT really quick. Frontier's work was to have been done in 2023," Dunbar said.

Councilman Vincent Aguirre suggested a public shaming of Frontier may help spur the work along, citing another city that had issues with a business not removing their lines. 

Aguirre shared a story of Avon working on U.S. 36 and town officials posting on social media as to why there were delays. 

"Maybe we can public shame them," Aguirre said. 

In addition to Frontier's woes, there were issues with sanitation and water lines with the city of Greencastle's infrastructure that created issues and delays with the project as well. 

"The goal is to get all of this back together soon, hopefully, by the end of the year. It will get done again this year they tell me," Dunbar said. 

There is still work at the railroad crossing on U.S. 231 that remains. The work includes putting in new sewers and water lines that will close that Jackson Street portion of the road for possibly 40 days. Dunbar said that portion of the construction project has been pushed back to 2025. 

"The bad news is we will see INDOT construction in 2025 on Jackson Street. I was really optimistic in the beginning that they would get this project finished up. There are not as many things that have to happen on Jackson Street. It will be much more manageable," Dunbar said. 

Dunbar said when completed, US 231 will be a "major improvement."

"We are going to be able to take what has happened with INDOT and make other improvements," Dunbar said.