LOGANSPORT — Growing up in rural Logansport, Andrew Wolf’s family drove down Perrysburg Road daily to go to All Saints Catholic School and then Logansport High School.
Like many who grew up in that area, Wolf’s family would travel the offset instersection at Perrysburg, Davis and Chase roads. Little did Wolf know he’d play a major part in transforming that intersection into Cass County’s first roundabout.
“Being able to come back home and work for the Logansport community was something that I wanted to do,” said the 26-year-old project engineer and supervisor of the project for CrossRoad Engineers. “It was just an honor to come back and turn something that I used some 15, 20 years into something nicer and better for the community in my opinion.”
Wolf joined county and city officials, old and new, as well as CrossRoad officials Wednesday morning at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $4.2 million Chase Road project. The project has been through two mayors, two leaders of the city’s street department and two county engineers.
Jeff Smith, the current county engineer, said the county and city worked hand-in-hand to get the project done and to coordinate funding from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
“There were some technical challenges as far as having two agencies involved like this as far as INDOT is concerned,” Smith said. “It all worked pretty smoothly.”
Road construction began in August where crews expanded 10-foot lanes to 12 feet. The road has a 12-foot left-turn lane near Michigan Avenue and then narrows to two 12-foot lanes to Davis Road, where the roundabout replaces what had been an offset intersection at Chase, Perrysburg and Davis roads.
All eyes were on the roundabout during the Cass County 4-H Fair last month. Smith, along with other officials, said the lines of slowed traffic that usually plague the intersection were absent during its busiest time of year.
“Traffic flowed really well through here during fair week,” Smith said.
“It’s great to see it finished. It’s been a long project in the making.”
Smith said the project had been a learning process that the county may use in the future.
“Certainly after seeing the success of this one, we would be open to that in future projects if it’s the right spot,” he said.
Mayor Ted Franklin was on hand for the ribbon cutting and called the project “a success story all the way around.”
“It’s just one of those projects that turned out well,” he said. “It’s just a good sign the way everybody worked together on it.”
Former Mayor Mike Fincher was also at the ceremony and said he remembered when former Street Superintendent Don Crain would talk about how dangerous the incline was on Chase Road leading to Michigan Avenue. This project fixed that.
“It’s just going to be a nice addition for the community,” Fincher said.
He also praised the new roundabout.
“I hope there will be more,” he said. “I think it’s the traffic wave of the future. They’re the coming thing. They’re a lot better traffic control.”
For Wolf, it was the traffic control that meant the most for this project “I have to say that I haven’t been able to get to the fair as quickly as I have been this year,” he said, recalling a time when he would take 200 North to avoid the intersection. “There are going to be accidents … but it is a lot safer intersection.”
• Jason M. Rodriguez is associate editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or jason.rodriguez@pharostribune.com.
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