Bridge repairs to shift U.S. 50 traffic

The Indiana Department of Transportation will reroute U.S. 50 traffic around a construction site in western Jackson County beginning on or after Oct. 9.

Force Construction of Columbus, the state’s contractor for this $3.4 million project, which includes removal and replacement of the U.S. 50 bridge over Clearspring Creek and installation of a small drainage structure located nearby, plans to start operations at the small structure site the second week of October.

During construction, motorists will be routed around the site via a runaround. The speed limit will be reduced to 35 mph.

A new three-sided box culvert will replace an existing small structure that carries an unnamed tributary of Clearspring Creek. The new culvert will have a 20-foot span and measure 52 feet in length. It is located 6.12 miles east of State Road 446 near County Road 1050W.

Once the new culvert is put in place, work will focus on removing and replacing the U.S. 50 Clearspring Creek bridge located 3.35 miles west of State Road 235. Again, a runaround will route traffic around the worksite.

Use of these temporary runarounds avoids full closure of the east-west highway during construction operations.

These U.S. 50 worksites are located approximately 10 miles west of Brownstown. The traffic count is 4,080 vehicles per day.