U.S. 41 pedestrian bridge near Bosse will be underway in weeks, INDOT says

EVANSVILLE — It's crazy, how treacherous the intersection of Washington Avenue and U.S. 41 can be for pedestrians on foot, Zuh’kariyah Pullom said Thursday.

Pullom, a junior at nearby Benjamin Bosse High School, was outside Bosse to help celebrate the Indiana Department of Transportation's project kickoff ceremony for a long-awaited pedestrian bridge that will give students and others a way to safely cross the intersection. It is planned to be a truss-style bridge, with aesthetic elements including the "e" style used in the city's "e is for everyone" motto and Bosse's "B."

Yes, it's really, finally happening, said officials representing Evansville city government, EVSC and the state at Thursday's ceremony.

An initial pre-construction meeting is set for Oct. 12 with actual work expected to be visible in four to six weeks, depending on weather. INDOT aims to complete the pedestrian bridge and intersection improvements by the end of 2024, but INDOT spokesman Gary Brian said people may have a bridge to cross before the entire project is done.

How soon before?

"In the coming weeks we’ll have a better idea," Brian told the Courier & Press.

Teenager Pullom couldn't have had any memory of how long it has taken to get to this point. She hasn't seen the collective push by community activists, Bosse graduates and families and politicians at all levels of government that spans twice her lifetime — but the rationale for it is frightenedly real to her.

"Cars are reckless. Like, they have come close to hitting kids," Pullom said. "They’ve barely missed me when I was crossing the highway before. They barely missed me. They don’t see us on the highway when it's our turn to go."

Crossing guards sent by Evansville Police and city administration haven't always made a difference, Pullom said.

"Sometimes (drivers) don’t care about the crossing guards," she said.

Students cross U.S. 41 for a variety of reasons — to come to school events, games and practices in the evenings or during the summer. Students also often cross to go to McDonald's, CVS, or the gas station before evening practices or games.

Crossing the intersection can be a nerve-wracking experience for Bosse junior Presley Bonke, who had her own close call.

"They just came speeding by when they really shouldn’t have. I’m not sure if that’s a 41 thing or all roads," Bonke said at Thursday's ceremony.

The plan for a pedestrian bridge was officially announced in 2019, and the estimated $7.8 million-plus project has slowly inched forward since then. Slowly, and with at least one false start. During a June 2022 public hearing at Bosse, it was announced construction could start in summer 2023.

During Thursday's project kickoff ceremony, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke recalled explaining the processes necessary to build the bridge to Bosse students a few months ago. The three-term mayor paused.

"Processes take time," he said. "From the time that we walked this area with (Indiana) Gov. (Eric) Holcomb in 2019 to today, a lot has happened. Maybe you haven’t seen it, but it’s been happening behind the scenes. Planning, engineering, right-of-way, utility relocation — all that is important."

Winnecke's stroll in the area with Holcomb in 2019 was a pivotal event. It "obviously" provided an impetus to turn the long sought-after bridge project into a reality, INDOT's Brian admitted Thursday.

"We’d already been talking with the mayor’s office about this project, so having the governor here helped that come along. It was good to have his help," Brian said.

Winnecke recalled after the ceremony that he and the governor and their aides parked at McDonald's across U.S. 41 and surveyed traffic in the area. Holcomb was in town for another event, Winnecke said, so he took an opportunity.

"We reached out to him and just asked him if he would walk this area with us, so he could understand the magnitude of the problem," the mayor said. "He could see firsthand at that point really how dangerous this intersection was — and at that point, not long after that, it became a project."

The city's match for the $7.8 million project amounts to roughly $1 million, approved by the City Council at Winnecke's request. The good news, Winnecke said, is that the money will go farther than he or the council could have anticipated. As recently as last year, the total project cost was expected to come in at $5 million. But construction prices have a way of going up, hence the new $7.8 million price tag.

But the city is still on the hook for just $1 million.

"Because of our contract with the state, the state’s going to live up to the terms of the contract, so we don’t have to pay any more," Winnecke said.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: U.S. 41 pedestrian bridge near Bosse will be underway in weeks, INDOT says