The City of Valparaiso has made significant progress on roadway projects in 2021, wrapping up the season with new openings. “We’re pleased to announce that Evans Avenue is now open on both sides of Silhavy Road and Silhavy Road will be open to both northbound and southbound traffic on Wednesday Nov. 24,” said Valparaiso Engineering Director Mike Jabo.
Work will resume for the section of Silhavy Road south of the Canadian National railroad crossing in the Spring of 2022. The Silhavy project includes new curbs, gutter, storm sewers, plus a new signal and added turn lanes at the intersection of Silhavy Road and Evans Avenue.
In recent weeks, the City of Valparaiso has completed a multi-mile project, improving some of the city’s most traveled roadways, including Roosevelt Road, Calumet Avenue and Morgan Boulevard,” said Jabo. In addition, Vale Park Road between Campbell Street and Valparaiso Street was milled and resurfaced, with traffic-calming speed tables replaced for safety. “We worked hard to minimize disruption for motorists on these projects, including doing a lot of the work in overnight hours and working around school schedules,” said Jabo. “We’ve also given special attention to enhancing neighborhoods, upgrading sidewalks and alleys,” he said.
The City of Valparaiso is putting finishing touches on a progressive traffic-calming technique on Morgan Boulevard by installing curb extensions, also known as “bump outs.” The bump outs are designed to slow the speed of traffic on Morgan Boulevard and create shorter distances for pedestrians crossing Morgan.
“Our priority is to provide safe passage for pedestrians crossing Morgan Boulevard as we slow the average speed of vehicles traveling Morgan,” said Valparaiso Engineering Director Mike Jabo. “The design provides safer travel, helping to unite neighborhoods,” he said.
The bump outs extend the curbs at intersections, reducing the crossing distance for pedestrians. “Because Morgan Boulevard is a wider street, it has been a challenge to ensure that motorists respect the posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour,” said Jabo, citing speed data that showed that the 85th percentile speed on Morgan was approaching 10 miles per hour over the posted 25 mile-per-hour limit. “We’ve seen other communities successful reduce speeds by reducing the width of the roadway through bump outs,” he said.
“Our efforts this year have focused on resurfacing and enhancing safety features for motorists and pedestrians alike,” said Jabo. “Safety is our first priority, and we continue to advance efforts to make travel throughout Valparaiso safer and more efficient.”
For more information about current City of Valparaiso projects, visit https://tinyurl.com/ValpoProjects.