SYRACUSE — The proposed overpass to go over US 6 and CR 29 is two months into construction. For a project of this size, much work goes into the foundation, and ground excavation has been a major part of the construction thus far. This involves removing old dirt and replacing it with new ground that is stable enough for a bridge.

Currently, the contractor crews are starting to set the bottom panels of the mechanically stabilized earth wall that will encase the bridge under the road. Bridge beams should be set sometime in June. For safety, short-term closures will take place during placement of bridge beams.

Various aspects of the bridge are slated for the summer, such as building dirt up to the part of the bridge that will support the road, creating pipe and drainage, the construction of the bridge deck and finally the pavement of the road itself.

The safety concern at CR 29 and US 6 came about due to 17 crashes that happened in 2011 and 2012. Six of those crashes resulted in injuries, for a total of nine people injured. As a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act, INDOT is required to analyze and evaluate the impacts of any proposed project. This evaluation looks at impacts to the natural and socioeconomic environments.

The first alternative to any INDOT project is the “Do Nothing” alternative. Additional alternatives are suggested and INDOT then identifies its preferred course of action. Public comment is then solicited, considered and addressed as part of the decision-making process.

The proposed alternatives for the CR 29 and US 6 intersection included to do nothing, to realign CR 29 and provide an improved intersection angle, to realign CR 29 and provide two offset T intersections, to add a roundabout, to add a traffic signal at the intersection or to add a grade-separated bridge with no access between CR 29 and US 6.

After reviewing each of the alternatives, the “Do Nothing” alternative wouldn’t have addressed the safety concerns and the realignment of CR 29 would not have enhanced the safety of the intersection, so both of these options were eliminated.

To turn the intersection into two T-intersections at each leg of CR 29, the north and south approaches of CR 29 would have had to be offset, making it hard for CR 29 through-traffic to reach adequate speeds along US 6 as they accelerate from one intersection to the next. There were operational and safety concerns with this option.

Due to traffic volumes along US 6 being much higher than CR 29, the option of a roundabout was determined not to meet the needs of the intersection. The addition of a traffic signal at the intersection was eliminated due to traffic counts and movement along CR 29, which did not warrant a signal.

This left the CR 29 overpass as the preferred alternative since this option eliminated 100 percent of intersection crashes.

The finished construction will result in a single-span bridge, 20-plus feet above US 6. CR 29 will have two 11-foot travel lanes, one northbound, one southbound, and a six-foot usable shoulder.

Rain and weather through the summer will be a factor on the projected end of construction, but the bridge is scheduled to be finished in mid-October.