SOUTH BEND — Construction on the Mishawaka Streetscape project from Longfellow to Emerson avenues will begin Monday, May 19, and streets in the area will see restrictions and closures during the work.
City officials said the project will improve walking and biking infrastructure, calm traffic, promote safety for the segment of Mishawaka Avenue between Beyer/Longfellow and Emerson avenues. The work is expected to be finished by the end of September.
Mishawaka Avenue will be restricted to one westbound lane during the construction, and there will be no eastbound traffic along the road. Cross streets will be closed at Mishawaka Avenue, and city officials said the eastbound Mishawaka Avenue ramp from Eddy Street also will be closed.
Motorists going east will be asked to use Sample Street to Lincoln Way East before heading back on Twyckenham Drive.
The Mishawaka Avenue improvements will include new curbs and sidewalks, a new water main and storm sewers, new lighting, landscaping and street resurfacing.
A raised intersection will be added at Mishawaka and Beyer/Longfellow avenues.
Once this section of Mishawaka Avenue reopens to full traffic, the street will be a three-lane corridor — two travel lanes with a center turn lane. On-streeet parking spaces and a bicycle lane also is part of the project.
The construction schedule is in two phases:
City officials said access to businesses will be maintained throughout the duration of the project.
City Planner Tim Corcoran and Michael Divita, assistant city planner, explained in a Tribune story about the project that the project has been in the works for six years. The city has seen more foot traffic for businesses along Mishawaka Avenue and the South Bend Farmers Market near the curve in Mishawaka Avenue, and both businesses and residents have had concerns over the speeds of motorists driving through the Longfellow-Mishawaka Avenue corridor.
Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mishawaka Avenue Streetscape project to begin May 19 and will restrict traffic during work
Reporting by Greg Swiercz, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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