Workers took down the signal lights and utility poles Monday as the first phase of roundabout construction began at Indiana 130 and Indiana 51, one of the gateways into Hobart.
Businesses around the construction geared up for a summer of disruptions as the $2.75 million project continues through mid-October, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Phase 1 includes a road closure from the project site north to Hickey Street through early July. A detour will follow U.S. 6 and Indiana 149.
Workers took utility poles down Monday in the first phase of construction of a .7 million state roundabout project at Indiana 130 and Indiana 51 in Hobart. (Carole Carlson/Post-Tribune)
The site’s intersection will be closed as the next two phases begin in July. The state contractor is Milestone Contractors North Inc.
Dwayne Hickman, who owns Hickman’s Service on the southwest side of the intersection, said the roundabout has been a long time coming.
“When we began here in the fall of 2011, the city warned there would be a roundabout,” he said.
Hickman’s does a steady business and he’s telling customers they can still reach his business from Indiana 130, for now.
“It’s not like we’re McDonalds where there’s a thousand cars,” he said.
Both Hickman and Pam and Joe Broadaway, who own Trail Blazers Bike Shop on site’s northeast side at a trailhead for the Oak Savannah Trail, say the intersection is a dangerous one with motorists and bicyclists trying to cross it.
At a 2021 public hearing, state officials cited 23 accidents from 2012 to 2015. Motorists disregarded traffic signals in all cases.
“We’re excited to see it start,” said Pam Broadaway. “It is starting at the height of our season, but it’s better than not having it done. Hopefully, it will slow people down.”
She called it an unsafe intersection and cited one accident that involved a cyclist who was walking his bike through the intersection when he was struck by a motorist.
She said the bicyclist was dazed, but not seriously injured and the motorist felt so bad, he bought him a new bike.
Broadaway said Trail Blazers is expecting about 600 cyclists June 14 who are riding in a charity event from Chicago to New Buffalo, Mich.
Trail Blazers is the last pit stop on the 100-mile ride. “They’ll get water and Gatorade, there’s a food truck,” she said. “They all love the smoothies,” she said.
The Broadaways, along with the city and Lake County and others sold a portion of their land to the state for the construction.
City officials and residents, who attended the 2021 state hearing, voiced concern for the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists navigating the 17-foot wide single lane roundabout from the trail.
The state plans to construct 10-feet-wide sidewalks adjacent to portions of the roundabout, connecting segments of the Oak Savannah Pedestrian Trail and routing it around the intersection.
The roundabout will include a right-turn bypass lane for southbound traffic on Indiana 130 and 15-foot truck aprons between the travel lane and center island. Lighting improvements are also planned, the state said in a release.
The existing storm sewer network will be improved to accommodate stormwater drainage, diverting the water to a new outlet north of the project area.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
