– Photos courtesy of Clinton County, Indiana
The Clinton County Government has announced that a portion of the roundabout at State Road 28 and County Road 800 West has been opened and is nearing completion for the remainder of the roundabout as of Wednesday, July 24.
The Clinton County Government showcased the operation of the roundabout as it nears completion after construction began in late August 2023, stating how the roundabout will satisfy the needs of larger vehicles, such as farm equipment and semi trucks, as members of the staff observed the larger vehicles utilizing the partially opened portion of the roundabout earlier this week.
The completion of the roundabout experienced delays due to necessary lighting fixtures and unforeseen setbacks after a projected end-date for the project was set for July 4. In early June, Clinton County Commissioner President Jordan Brewer stated that the roundabout was nearing completion and had the possibility to be open to the public around July 4 as economic development is expected to spur in the area near I-65 with the expectation of the Bandera’s Point complex to be opened to the public in the future.
“As of last week, still on target for fourth of July, give or take a few days on either side of it for it to be opened up and functional, and that’s exciting,” Brewer said. “It’s had a few challenges, and they’ve made some adjustments both with the weather and maybe how they were doing some traffic patterns, but we’ve kind of worked through all those.”
According to reports from community members and elected officials, the roundabout had portions being functional around the July 4 date, but the complete opening of the roundabout would require a few more weeks to come to fruition.
Brewer stated in June that the county’s decision to implement a roundabout in the area was based on two main factors, namely standards set by the Indiana Department of Transportation and the development with Bandera’s Point that is expected to continue to stir future developments.
“There was kind of two reasons why we went down that path,” Brewer said. “In conversations with INDOT, they really weren’t going to allow us to use 800 West there right next to the interstate as an access point to that north side for economic development. They wanted something further off the interstate, so this now will create that path that the north parcels can be developed over time, and then we obviously have hopefully the continued development of Bandera’s Point that this will then provide an entrance to the south half as well.”
Brewer stated that the county governmental bodies developed the plan for the roundabout amidst extensive consultation with developers who showcased how larger vehicles, such as farming equipment and semi tractor-trailers would be suitable to pass through the roundabout without causing damage, and the recent visit by the staff showcased that the larger vehicles would be able to utilize the roundabout successfully without incident, which was further emphasized as traffic cones were still present that limited the area available for the vehicles to conduct the turn.
“We put a lot of time and effort when it was being developed,” Brewer said. “They brought in basically these models that showed what equipment could make it through there.”
Brewer emphasized that the elected officials and the contractors entertained numerous conversations regarding the access for larger vehicles as the traffic flow from Interstate 65 proved to be consisted of numerous larger vehicles that would need to pass through the area.
“We can even look further past farm equipment just from a tractor-trailer standpoint,” Brewer said. “I don’t know how many go through there daily, but it’s a big gateway from east to west out of Clinton County.”
In previous interviews, Clinton County Council President Alan Dunn stated that the corridor of I-65 represents the best opportunity for long-term economic development, which was one of the main contributing factors to the implementation of the roundabout.
