The Town of Milford with funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and oversight by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is developing plans for a multi-use trail project near the Town of Milford, in Kosciusko County, Indiana. The project will begin at the south side of East 1st Street within the Town of Milford and extend along the east side of the Norfolk Southern Railroad, crossing Turkey Creek with a pedestrian bridge, and continuing to and extending along the north side of unnamed tributary (UNT) to Turkey Creek to East County Road (CR) 1150 North, where the trail will cross East CR 1150 North. After crossing East CR 1150 North, the project will continue east along the south side of East CR 1150 North to the intersection of East CR 1150 North and East Camp Mack Road. At the intersection of East CR 1150 North and East Camp Mack Road, the project will turn south and continue along the west side of East Camp Mack Road until the southern terminus within Waubee Lake Park.

The primary purpose of this project is to provide pedestrian and non-vehicular facilities to connect the Town of Milford to Waubee Lake Park.

The need for this project stems from the lack of pedestrian and non-vehicular facilities connecting the Town of Milford to Waubee Lake Park. There are no existing pedestrian facilities within the project limits, but there are existing pedestrian facilities within the Town of Milford outside of the project limits. Initial plans for the trail came from the Town of Milford and have been incorporated into the 2023-2027 Kosciusko County Park Plan as part of the Michiana Area Council of Governments Park Master Plans program.

Proposed work includes the creation of an ADA-compliant, 10-foot wide asphalt multi-use trail and associated trailhead facilities, including a sidewalk, parking, a resting area, and trash receptacles. The creation of the multi-use trail will require the construction of a pedestrian bridge to convey the trail over Turkey Creek. The pedestrian bridge will be a 56.5-foot long, single span prefabricated steel truss bridge. The designed bridge will provide for a trail width of 8 feet and 1.5 foot shoulders for a total truss width of 11 feet. Riprap for bank stabilization will be placed along the banks of Turkey Creek under the pedestrian bridge. At the location where the trail will cross East CR 1150 North, pavement markings and signage will be utilized. Along the south side of East CR 1150 North and the west side of East Camp Mack Road, the multi-use trail will cross eight private driveways. Where the multi-use trail construction will impact the private driveways, new driveway aprons will be reconstructed as part of the project. Existing gravel and HMA driveway aprons will be reconstructed with HMA pavement, and existing concrete driveway aprons will be reconstructed with concrete. Driveway culverts/small pipes may be installed under the seven driveways along the south side of East CR 1150 North that do not have existing driveway culverts and will be crossed by the trail in order to maintain drainage along the roadside and off the trail. Work to two existing small pipes within the project limits is also proposed. The first small pipe, Pipe #1, is a 24.5-foot long, 10” corrugated metal pipe (CMP) located under a private driveway along the west side of East Camp Mack Road. As the driveway apron is reconstructed for the trail construction, Pipe #1 will be replaced with a 25-foot long, 12” CMP. The second small pipe, Pipe #2, is a 37.7-foot long 12” CMP that directs drainage from the east side of East Camp Mack Road under the road to Hoopengarner Drain. Pipe #2 will be extended 16 feet with matching 12” diameter Type 1 pipe to convey the drainage from east of East Camp Mack Road to Hoopengarner Drain under the multi-use trail. An additional 12” pipe, referred to in the plans as Structure No. 10, will be placed under the multi-use trail north of Hoopengarner Drain to direct roadside drainage from the west side of East Camp Mack Road under the trail and into Hoopengarner Drain.

The proposed construction of this project will acquire 5.77 acre of new permanent right-of-way and 0.001 acre of temporary right-of-way.

The project is expected to take 12 months to complete. The Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) for the project will likely require short-term flagging operations to maintain traffic along E CR 1150 N and E Camp Mack Road when construction reaches where the multi-use trail will cross E CR 1150 N for pavement marking. Flagging operations may also be used periodically through construction of the multi-use trail where it is constructed along E CR 1150 N and E Camp Mack Road, but both E CR 1150 N and E Camp Mack Road will remain open to traffic throughout construction. As there are no existing sidewalks or non-vehicular facilities within the project area, no disruptions to pedestrian or other non-vehicular traffic are anticipated either. The proposed start of construction is January 2027.

The cost associated with this project is approximately $1,763,000 which includes preliminary engineering, right-of-way, and construction with both federal and local funds anticipated to be used. The FHWA and INDOT have agreed this project falls within the guidelines of a Categorical Exclusion (CE) Level 3 environmental document. Preliminary design plans along with the CE are available for review at the following locations:

• Town of Milford Town Clerks Office (121 South Main Street, Milford, IN 46542)
• USI Consultants, Inc. Website (https://www.usiconsultants.com/des-2101778/)

All interested persons may request a public hearing be held and/or express their concerns by submitting comments to the attention of Courtney Haverbusch, (513) 917-0331, 8415 E 56th St., Indianapolis, IN 46216, [email protected]) on or before December 13, 2024. Project documents can be mailed upon request.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), persons and/or groups requiring project information be made available in alternative formats are encouraged to contact the Town of Milford Town Clerks Office for the arrangement and coordination of services. Please contact Tricia Gall, (574) 658-4519, [email protected]. In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, persons and/or groups requiring project information be made available in another language are encouraged to contact the Town of Milford Town Clerks Office.

This notice is published in compliance with: 1) Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Section 771 (CFR 771.111(h)(1) stating, “Each State must have procedures approved by the FHWA to carry out a public involvement/public hearing program.”; 2) 23 CFR 450.210(a)(1)(ix) stating, “Provide for the periodic review of the effectiveness of the public involvement process to ensure that the process provides full and open access to all interested parties and revise the process, as appropriate.”; and 3) The INDOT Project Development Public Involvement Procedures approved by the Federal Highway Administration on July 7, 2021.