Having been on vacation for the last 2 weeks, I arrived back in Zionsville to see that several large trees have been removed from the Ford Road bridge area. This is in preparation for construction of the new bridge and the “eased” turn just south of the bridge.
According to the Zionsville Times Sentinel, the bridge will be replaced this year. At this point, I don’t have any further information on the exact dates that bridge construction is to commence.
A public hearing is scheduled for February 6th at 5:30pm at Zionsville Town Hall (1100 West Oak St.) in the Beverly Harves Meeting Room. It is unknown whether any other representatives will be present (town, county, engineer, etc.) beyond the DNR. In any case, this will be a good opportunity to see what the current bridge plans are and to possibly ask questions. It is unknown whether any further public hearings will be scheduled before construction commences, so if you have concerns and want additional information this may be your last chance to do so.
For some history of the Ford Road bridge project, you can read these Hunt Club area website posts:
The official DNR notice of hearing contains some basic information on the bridge project itself: Final Public Hearing Notice
Start planning now to attend the Traders Point Creamery Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 12th from noon to 7pm. Oktoberfest raises money for the Traders Point Rural Historic District (over $90,000 so far) and is great fun for the whole family. Activities at this year’s Oktoberfest include:
In addition, you are welcome to watch the daily 4pm cow milking in the milking parlor.
Advanced ticket sales are available at the Traders Point Creamery farm store as well as online. Complete details of the event are also available on the Traders Point Creamery website.
Finally, this is a volunteer run event. If you are interested in helping out, please fill out our contact form and indicate whether you would like to work the morning shift (11am to 3:30pm) or afternoon shift (3pm to 7:30pm). As a volunteer, you get free admission to the event!
You may have already noticed them, but new signs have been erected at the boundaries of the Traders Point Rural Historic District. There will be 13 signs, in both Boone and Marion counties, when all have been put in place.What you may not know is that the artwork on the signs was generously donated by Zionsville artist, Nancy Noel.
It appears that the ongoing saga of the Ford Road bridge is not finished yet. Late in January, the Boone County Council voted to commit $500,000 to the construction of a concrete bridge with wooden railings. This is a last ditch effort to retain $2.5 million in federal funding for a replacement bridge that has been in planning since 1995 but has been held up amid bickering over the exact type of bridge to be constructed. The $500,000 is the required 20% share of the projected cost needed to receive the federal funding. At this point, there are no plans, specs or cost estimates for the newly proposed concrete bridge.
Unfortunately, due to lack of progress on plans for a new Ford Road bridge, the Indiana Department of Transportation has removed the bridge from it’s list of planned projects as of January 29th. Subsequently, the county has lost the current $2.5 million federal grant. In addition, over $540,000 spent on engineering for the truss bridge will have been wasted.
Town of Zionsville News Town of Zionsville Meetings