Officials in Shelby County say progress is being made on the Linden Road construction project. According to Shelby County Engineer Dan Ahart, the overlay on Linden Road from 1200th Street to County Road F32 is now complete. Ahart says this is part of the project ties in with what the Engineer’s Office did two years ago. “One thing we did was we went along with the project from 1200th Street to 1300th Street two years ago, we tried a little experiment were we went in and milled some of the existing asphalt out and put a thin layer of asphalt in. As we are doing to this project now, we decided for continuity and longevity, we extended the job on the contract farther south and put another overlay on what we did two years ago. What the public will see from 1200th Street north to F32 or golf course road, it will be all new asphalt.”

Ahart says with the new overlay comes some concerns. “But one thing I really want to caution the public on, in all sincerity, I want to make sure everyone understands it is a 55 mile per hour speed limit. When you get a new asphalt road, people have the tendency to think it runs fast and smooth. I have asked (Shelby County) Sheriff Hervey for some assistance in the next 30 days to have some pretty stringent enforcement out there. It is still only a 18 foot wide pavement and it is still narrow. People have a tendency to go fast on it and I guess what I am saying is do not do it.”

Even though the overlay on the large portion of Linden Road is complete, the bridge work on Linden Road north of Harlan continues. “We are moving a long very well on that. In fact, last Wednesday (June 11th) we poured the deck on it. The contractor is doing a good job on that. And that detour will remain in place. There’s still not access on Linden directly to 1200th Street or the back road into the landfill.”

The contractor will be working on the approaches and the railing before the bridge project is complete. Ahart said the project will end before the new school year starts in August. The cost of the overlay, bridge and previous work is around $1.2 million. Ahart says this isn’t the only project going on in the county so heed the construction signs and watch for workers on the roadways.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)