Legal Advertisement
Des. No.: 2101683 (Lead)
and 2101702
LEGAL NOTICE
PLANNED
IMPROVEMENT
Bartholomew County Offi-
cials have developed
preliminary plans for im-
provement of the Lowell
Road and North CR 325
West Intersection and
the replacement of Bar-
tholomew County Bridge
No. 170 along Lowell
Road over Driftwood
River. The proposed in-
tersection improvement
includes construction of
a single-lane, 160 foot
diameter roundabout
which relocates the inter-
section approximately
320 feet southwest from
the existing location.
This change requires
Lowell Road (the east
leg of the roundabout) to
be realigned south of its
existing location. The
roundabout eliminates a
stop controlled intersec-
tion, improves traffic
flow, and improves the
sight distance. The
roundabout will provide
reduced vehicular delay
and improved operation
for the primary north-
bound to eastbound and
westbound to south-
bound movements at the
intersection of North CR
325 West and Lowell
Road. The center of the
proposed roundabout
will be located approxi-
mately 325 feet south-
west of the existing inter-
section and will be lo-
cated directly west of the
proposed Bartholomew
County Bridge No. 170.
South of the proposed
intersection, approxi-
mately 900 feet of North
CR 325 West will be re-
constructed and rea-
ligned. A 45-mph hori-
zontal curve will be in-
cluded as part of the
south approach to the
roundabout and will be
designed for 45-mph
speed limit.
The roundabout will in-
clude 12 foot single lane
approaches and an 18
foot circulating lane with
an 8 foot truck apron.
Mountable splitter is-
lands will be included to
accommodate large ve-
hicles and agricultural
equipment using the in-
tersection. Within the
limits of the roundabout
geometry, curb and gut-
ter will be used. Outside
of the roundabout, 8 foot
shoulders will be used.
No existing sidewalks or
curb ramps are present
within the project limits;
therefore, pedestrian fa-
cilities will not be in-
cluded in the project.
New LED lighting will be
installed during construc-
tion.
The existing bridge will be
removed following the
construction of the new
bridge. The project pro-
poses 200 linear feet of
riprap upstream and 125
linear feet downstream
of the new structure be-
low the ordinary high
water mark (OHWM) for
a total of 325 feet of per-
manent impacts which
includes the overall foot-
print of the existing
structure being removed.
The new bridge over the
Driftwood River will be a
continuous composite
prestressed concrete
bulb tee structure built
on a tangent from the
Lowell Road alignment
east of the bridge and
will be built on a
30-degree skew to the
Driftwood River. The
new bridge will be lo-
cated 132 feet down-
stream of the existing
bridge improving the
overall sight distance of
the Lowell Road. The
bridge will include four,
140 foot spans for a total
length of 560 feet. The
proposed bridge will in-
clude two 12 foot lanes
with 8.3 foot shoulders.
The clear roadway width
will be 40.66 feet.
The bridge and the round-
about will primarily be
constructed on a new
alignment, allowing
existing roadways to
continue to operate dur-
ing construction. Con-
struction of tie-ins to
existing Lowell Road and
North CR 325 West will
require full closures. A
detour route will be pro-
vided for the full closure
phases of the project.
The detour route will in-
clude US 31, West
Tannehill Road, and
North CR 325 West. The
detour is expected to be
in place for 6 months
and is approximately 11
miles in length.
The Driftwood River is
considered a navigable
waterway and is listed
on the Indiana Outstand-
ing Rivers List due to its
listing as a state desig-
nated canoe trail and is
waterway which sup-
ports public recreational
activity. Recreational ac-
tivity along the Driftwood
River will not be affected
by this bridge replace-
ment project as a portion
of the river will remain
open to watercraft pas-
sage. Since recreational
activity will continue to
take place along the
river during construction,
debris netting will be uti-
lized to prevent material
from entering the water-
way or otherwise impact-
ing recreational users.
Additionally, warning
signage to indicate on-
going construction will
be placed approximately
100 to 150 feet upstream
from the bridge location
in an area visible to rec-
reational users.
Construction of the project
will require approxi-
mately 4.88 acre of new
permanent right-of-way
with an estimated con-
struction cost of $
11,256,130. Federal and
local funds are to be uti-
lized for the construction
of the project.
The project will convert
0.70 acre (not included
in the ROW above) of
the IDNR public access
site to a transportation
use. Instead of acquiring
permanent right-of-way,
Bartholomew County
proposes to acquire a
permanent easement
from this parcel. The
permanent easement will
not cause a change in
ownership of the prop-
erty. The impact is re-
quired for the replace-
ment of the existing
bridge on a new align-
ment to meet hydraulic
requirements associated
with the new bridge. Ad-
ditionally, the realign-
ment of Lowell Road is
necessary to accommo-
date an intersection im-
provement project at
Lowell Road and North
CR 325 West. The proj-
ect will remove and re-
place the existing boat
ramp. The new boat
ramp will be constructed
north of the proposed
bridge and will meet
IDNR standards. Addi-
tionally, 0.62 acre of new
parking will be provided
and added to the IDNR
Public Access Site to the
Driftwood River. The
added parking will be lo-
cated along the west
side of the IDNR Public
Access Site.
The designed action will
not adversely impact the
activities, features, and
attributes that qualify the
property for protection
under Section 4(f) of the
Department of Transpor-
tation Act of 1966 and in
accordance with
SAFETEA-LU Section
6009 (a). As such, it is
the intent of Bartholo-
mew, along with the
Federal Highway Admin-
istration to issue a find-
ing of de minimis.
The Federal Highway Ad-
ministration and INDOT
have agreed that this
project falls within the
guidelines of a Categori-
cal Exclusion (CE) Level
3 environmental docu-
ment with no significant
impacts to wetlands.
Preliminary design plans,
along with the CE are
available for review at
the following locations:
1. Bartholomew County
Highway Department,
101150 East 25th Street,
Columbus, Indiana
47203
2. United Consulting, 8440
Allison Pointe Boule-
vard, Suite 200, Indian-
apolis, Indiana 46250
3. Online location:
https://tinyurl.com/3s5prtvx
All interested persons may
request a public hearing
be held and/or express
their concerns by sub-
mitting comments to the
attention of Michael Oli-
phant (United Consult-
ing, 317 895-2585 or
[email protected]) on or before Tues-
day, June 23, 2026. In
addition, project informa-
tion, including the envi-
ronmental document,
may be mailed to inter-
ested persons upon re-
quest.
In accordance with the
Americans with Disabili-
ties Act (ADA), persons
and/or groups requiring
project information be
made available in alter-
native formats are en-
couraged to contact Mi-
chael Oliphant, United
Consulting
(317-895-2585 and
[email protected]).
In accordance with Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, persons and/or
groups requiring project
information be made
available in another lan-
guage are encouraged
to contact Michael Oli-
phant, United Consulting
(317-895-2585 and
[email protected]).
This notice is published in
compliance with: 1)
Code of Federal Regula-
tions, Title 23, Section
771 (CFR 771.111(h)(1)
stating, Each state must
have procedures ap-
proved by the FHWA to
carry out a public
involvement/public hear-
ing program.; 2) 23 CFR
450.210(a)(1)(ix) stating,
Provide for the periodic
review of the effective-
ness of the public in-
volvement process to
ensure that the process
provides full and open
access to all interested
parties and revise the
process, as appropri-
ate.; and 3) The INDOT
Project Development
Public Involvement Pro-
cedures approved by the
Federal Highway Admin-
istration on July 7, 2021.
60161036
R 06-06-13-2026