Street repair season arrives early
INDOT to repave 31, 931; city plans Dixon, Apperson, Washington fixes
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January freezes bring February potholes. That’s how the saying goes, right? While that might not be the old adage, the early months of the year do bring plenty of problems for city streets. And with spring just around the corner, the City of Kokomo and the state already have road construction plans in place.
This week, the Indiana Department of Transportation began preparation work along Ind. 931 to repave a significant portion of the highway, along with removing the guardrails between the northbound and southbound lanes. According to Mayor Tyler Moore, that is just the beginning of an ambitious paving season.
“They're planning to do a whole resurfacing of 931 and removing guard rails,” said Moore. “They're doing both sides, all the way up to Markland, maybe Vaile Avenue. And then once they get that done, they’ll hop over to the bypass (Ind. 31). It's going to be a total shutdown along a mile stretch.”
Moore said that Ind. 31 traffic will be rerouted to Ind. 931 during that phase of construction. He also believes that the two projects will occupy a significant portion of the early paving season, depending upon when asphalt is made available.
Historically, the asphalt plant doesn’t begin operations until approximately the week of April 20. However, changing weather conditions and need can adjust that schedule. From what the mayor is hearing, he is hopeful that opening comes sooner rather than later.
“The encouraging rumor that's going around now is that the asphalt plant is going to be opened by the end of March as opposed to April,” said Moore. “But that may be because of the 931 project.”
An early opening also means the city’s street paving crew can get a head start on its season. And Moore can’t wait to see the street department get busy on the resurfacing schedule. Eighteen paving projects have been identified for in-house paving this year.
“Street conditions are terrible,” said Moore. “There's no doubt about that, you know. Year after year, it’s probably the biggest frustration I have in this position. Where do we address next? We sit down and go through a prioritized list of resurfacing, and we're going to try and get as aggressive as we can.”
The mayor acknowledged, however, that the street department typically has difficulty completing more than 10-12 paving projects in a given season. Asphalt availability, uncooperative weather, and unforeseen issues can quickly derail paving. Still, Moore is hopeful that the list the city developed can be mostly completed, including repaving of a few alleys in desperate need of attention.
The wish list of in-house paving projects is located at the bottom of the story.
The city also received more than $1 million in Community Crossroads roadwork funding from the State of Indiana this year. That means a handful of larger projects can be handled. Since the city relies on contractors to do the larger projects, drivers shouldn’t expect these repairs to take place before the completion of INDOT’s 31/931 repairs.
“We're going to do Washington Street, hopefully from Jefferson to at least the split (with Davis Road), but hopefully all the way to Morgan Street,” said Moore. “And we’re finally going to get the Jefferson and Washington intersection fixed and put back the dedicated turn lanes going east and west.”
Moore also mentioned Dixon Road from Markland Avenue to Sycamore Street as another major resurfacing project on the schedule for this year, as well as repaving Apperson Way from Morgan Street to North Street and Southway Boulevard from Lafountain to Webster Street.
It may sound like a bit of a pipe dream, but there is some urgency behind the aggressive schedule. Moore isn’t certain the city will have the funding to do a lot of paving beyond this year.
“We’re still watching what's going to happen with the legislature on Senate Bill 1 to see how funding is going to be affected, but fortunately, everything's in place for this year,” said Moore. “I’m concerned about cuts, in general, to property taxes. Since property taxes affect the municipalities’ budgets, and we've only got so much of the pie to spread around, we have to watch what the state does to us.”
As it stands, Senate Bill 1 has provisions to freeze the property tax levy in 2026 and slow its growth in 2027-2028. It also contains a boatload of new or increased property tax exemptions and reductions for seniors, disabled veterans, first-time home buyers. The bill was referred to committee in the Indiana House of Representatives on March 3 after receiving a first reading.
2025 City of Kokomo Potential Resurfacing Projects
This list is subject to change.
Thoroughfares
Washington Street, from Madison to Morgan
Alto Road, from Webster Street to Park Avenue
Southway Boulevard, from Lafountain Street to Webster Street
Dixon Road from Markland Avenue to Sycamore Street
Apperson Way, from North Street to Morgan Street
Residential Streets
Council Ring Blvd., from 5203 to 5828
Boulevard Street, from Washington Street to Webster Street
Rainbow Drive, from Lafountain Street to Webster Street
Webster Street, from Markland Avenue to Defenbaugh Street
Crooked Stick in its entirety
Carter Street, from Dixon Road to Branded Boulevard
Wildwood, from Madison Street to Columbus Boulevard
Wabash Street, from Boulevard to Grove Street
Union Street, from Jefferson Street to Richmond Street
Richmond Street, from Apperson Way to Markland Avenue
Locke Street, from North Street to Spraker Street
Pine Ridge Drive, from Center Road to Waterview Way
Bell Street, from Hoffer Street to Boulevard
Springwater Road, from Highland Springs Drive to Highland Springs Drive
Armstrong Street, from Markland Avenue to Park Avenue
Northwoods Drive, from the roundabout to Wynterbrooke Drive
Woodhaven Trail in its entirety
Carmelita Boulevard, from Elva Drive to Boulevard
An assortment of alleys near the proposed projects
Are they still planning on closing off the median at Vaile and 931?