Bloomington's Fullerton Pike construction is located on the southwest side of the city.
(Devan Ridgway/WTIU News)
Part of building the largest bridge in Monroe County involves construction workers lowering 90-ton concrete beams to their spot.
The bridge is a major part of Monroe County’s third phase of the Fullerton Pike Project, meant to improve east-to-west travel and connection to I-69.
Getting the beams in place is a big job, requiring 18 workers. Through August, workers placed 28 of the beams.
Weather permitting, concrete pouring for the bridge will start in October.
The goal is to set asphalt from Rockport Road on the western side of the bridge to Wickens Street on the Eastern side by the end of 2024.
Brent Foster, Milestone’s General Superintendent in Bloomington, said of all the projects Milestone is contracted for in Monroe County, this is the biggest.
“We knew the significance of connecting this side of town to I-69 and we know what it means for the county to help alleviate a lot of the traffic congestion going west,” he said.
The entire Fullerton Pike Project is on schedule to be complete in July 2025.
This third phase spans 1.25 miles of road construction from Rockport Road to the roundabout on South Rogers Street. Ultimately, it will form a new connection to I-69 in the southwest part of the county.
Matt Andrews, a co-owner at Iron Pit Gym, saw the planned connection as a bonus when he and his business partner moved their gym location to the area several years ago.
“We had been told that the property was going to be accessible in more ways through the Fullerton Pike extension,” Andrews said. “And then also the Gordon Pike roundabout at Rogers and Gordon Pike; that was going to be an asset, we felt like, for us moving into this building.”
Andrews said in the last couple years, more students are coming in to the gym from Bloomington.
Construction for previous stages of the project went from 2017 to 2020. Andrews said at one point, Rogers Street was closed, which limited access to his gym.
“That was a little bit difficult for people to navigate, but it didn't take long for them to get that roundabout completed,” he said.
Work on the project’s first and second phases included adding multi-use paths, increasing road capacity, roundabouts, and a bridge extension.
The project’s third phase is about half done. Construction will pause in the winter and finish next spring and summer.
Better east-to-west connectivity in Monroe County, access to I-69, and options to bypass traffic through the center of Bloomington have been on the county’s books for decades.
Monroe County started the work in 2008 with an environmental survey.
These types of projects take years to plan and finance, according to Lisa Ridge, the county’s Highway Department Director.
She also hopes Fullerton Pike can alleviate congestion on the west side of Bloomington and Monroe County — along West Third Street and South Curry Pike.
“It's kind of trying to help eliminate some of that traffic from going more North into that Western connection that is really heavily congested,” she said.
Bloomington’s congestion centers around its business hubs and state road corridors, according to Pat Martin of the Bloomington-Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
He doesn’t see that changing anytime soon. But the Fullerton Pike Project will help.
“It's important for the south side of Bloomington, south side of Monroe County,” he said.
Fullerton runs parallel with Tapp Road, which connects to I-69 just northward. The new Fullerton connection will provide “parallel relief,” according to Martin.
Tapp Road averages around 15,000 vehicles a day in some areas.
The completed parts of the Fullerton Pike Project average six to nine thousand vehicles a day.
Martin doesn’t see traffic increasing much past that for the fully completed project, because of resident and business density in the area.
“Given what's there now, I would expect somewhere around six to nine thousand,” Martin said. “It wouldn't be that much more than that at the current pace.”
Andrews is looking forward to the project’s completion. He said the southwest part of the county has seen more development.
“Just having that access point off the highway, off I-69 is definitely going to be helpful to us, as far as people being able to get here quick,” he said.
The intersection of Rockport and Fullerton, closed since July, is expected to open again on September 30, weather permitting.
