The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to open Phase II of the U.S. 50 bypass in North Vernon on Wednesday afternoon.
There will be a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony just west of the east-end roundabout at 1:30 p.m. prior to removing barricades for unrestricted traffic flow.
Dave O’Mara, the state’s contractor for this $22 million U.S. 50 project between State Road 3 and an east terminus near County Road 75E/Deer Creek Road in Jennings County, has completed 3½ miles of new pavement construction and built two bridges — a three-span 402-foot-long structure over the Muscatatuck River and a single-span 97-foot-long overpass at CSX’s rail tracks.
The original contract for east-section bypass construction was expanded to include a roundabout connecting the new highway with existing U.S. 50 at the east terminus.
Phase I/west-section construction of the U.S. 50 bypass — between County Road 400W and State Road 3 — was completed in late 2013. A west-end roundabout will be built next year.