March 24, 2020
After a multi-year federal procurement process, the City of South Bend announces the Bendix Drive Reconstruction Project will begin Monday, March 30. This project will include the replacement of the concrete pavement on Bendix Drive from the south end of the bridge over the Indiana Toll Road to 400 feet north of Lathrop Street. Once Bendix Drive is reopened to full traffic, the street will be a three-lane corridor – two travel lanes with a center turn lane. Other improvements include a new multipurpose trail on the east side of the street, signal modernization, and new curb ramps and approaches.
The northbound detour for Bendix will be Lincoln Way West to the U.S. 31 Bypass to the Brick/Cleveland Road exit. Southbound traffic on Bendix will be maintained throughout the entire project. Bendix from Lathrop to Lincoln Way West will not be impacted by this construction and will continue to operate as it does currently.
Access to all businesses in the impacted areas will be maintained during construction.
Construction will be broken up into four phases:
Phase I
The west lanes of Bendix Drive from Cleveland Road to the Boland Drive and the intersection at Nimtz Parkway and Bendix Drive will be under construction. Motorists will only be allowed to travel southbound on Bendix Drive from Cleveland Road to Lathrop Drive. The Boland and Bendix Drive intersection will be open for southbound traffic to turn west.
St. Joseph County will also be conducting work on the west lanes of the bridge over the Indiana Toll Road on Bendix Drive. The County’s bridge project is expected to start in early April and will release information at a later date.
Phase 2
The east lanes from the bridge to Boland Drive will close for construction. The Nimtz/Bendix intersection will reopen. Motorists will only be allowed to travel southbound from Cleveland to Lathrop with the Boland intersection open for southbound traffic to turn west.
Phase 3
The west lanes from Boland to Lathrop will close including the Boland/Bendix intersection. Southbound motorists will not have access to turn on Boland; however, north of the Boland intersection to Cleveland will reopen to two-way traffic (this includes Sugar Maple Court).
Phase 4
The east lanes from Boland to Lathrop will close for construction. Boland Drive will only be accessible from the north. Motorists on Boland will only be allowed to turn south onto Bendix.
The $4,089,000 bid was awarded to Rieth-Riley Construction Company in September 2019. Eighty percent of the costs for the project will come through federal funds, with 20 percent covered locally. The anticipated completion date for this project is mid-September 2020; however, this schedule is subject to change given the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
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