The Town Council’s Redevelopment Commission has awarded a $355,182.15 contract to low bidder Walsh & Kelly to make intersection improvements at East 79th Avenue and Mississippi Street in Merrillville.
The approval was recommended by Scott Pruitt, with First Group Engineering, which is overseeing the project.
The RDC also awarded First Group Engineering a contract not to exceed $25,000 for construction inspection of the project.
Pruitt said Tuesday the project primarily involves road resurfacing, but also includes a right turn lane from 79th Avenue onto Mississippi Street.
The lane was designed to relieve some of the congestion on 79th, which services Costco, Lowe’s home improvement store, CarMax and other businesses, as well as the future Ashley Furniture Store that will be built on the former Wickes Furniture Store property.
Vehicles going to Ashley, CarMax and other stores facing U.S. 30 will now enter and exit from Indiana, a street west of Culver’s restaurant, then onto 79th. A frontage road immediately south of U.S. 30 that serviced these businesses has been eliminated.
“This is a welcome improvement,” Pruitt said.
In other matters, the commission learned that temporary widening is being done on Mississippi Street, south of U.S. 30, as part of the fourth phase of the Mississippi Street road improvement project. Potholes were expected to be patched and underground work to take place in the next couple of weeks.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter.
