The yellow ribbon was cut followed by a cake on Nov. 30 to celebrate the conclusion of a two-year-long road and bridge project at Yellowwood State Forest.
The project cost $9 million, according to a press release from the Indiana Department of Transportation. It was split into two phases. The first phase was completed last year and included paving roads south of Yellowwood Lake’s parking lot and constructing a 300-foot-long bridge on Yellowwood Road over Salt Creek.
This year, INDOT, in conjunction with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, reconstructed a 1.3-mile segment of gravel road north of the lake’s parking lot, raising the grade and adding drainage structures. The $4,363,000 Phase II work also included building a single-span bridge over Jackson Creek and reconstructing 1.5 miles of Yellowwood Road pavement north of State Road 46.
At the Dec. 5 Brown County Commissioners meeting, Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner said a total of 6.5 miles of road was reconstructed during both phases in addition to the new concrete bridge.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“Brown County paid zero in match money, so that’s a great addition to our road system,” Magner said.
The project also eliminated low water crossings that were a safety concern, especially when the crossings would ice over in the winter, he said.
“That worked out great,” Magner said.
Representatives from Lochmueller Group Engineering, Milestone Paving, the DNR and INDOT were in attendance along with the commissioners, Magner and other members of the community.
“They still have some clean up, punch list items to do. … There’s still a little bit of work yet to do, but it is open to the public,” Magner said.
He said there was only a “slight realignment” of the road at the intersection for the new bridge and that the bridge was moved a little south.
“The rest of the roadway stayed on the existing alignment. It was just widened,” Magner said.
“There were no major realignments. On the north end, there were a couple of places where they put in new box culverts to eliminate the creek crossings, the low water crossings.”
Yellowwood Lake Road is now paved with asphalt all the way to the boat ramp now.
“I was impressed. I had not been down there since the project actually started, but I remembered the old road. … I was amazed how little impact apparently this project has had on the area,” commissioner Jerry Pittman said.
“It just improved it all the way through there. That bridge is magnificent.”
There is no fee to enjoy the picnic areas in Yellowwood State Forest. There are fees to camp or rent a boat.
“It’s really pretty. It’s a nice drive. Go back, buy a bucket of chicken, take it out there and have a picnic,” commissioners President Dave Anderson said.
