Plans are moving forward to build a major new overpass near the Concord Mall near Sunnyside Avenue.
The new bridge that will take traffic over State Road 33 and the Norfolk Southern Railroad line and down Sunnyside. On Monday, Elkhart County Commissioners unanimously approved $12.5 million for the project.
The Indiana Department of Transportation is bidding out the project and construction will start in July and be completed in the summer of 2026.
In addition to the bridge, there will be a roundabout installed which will connect Center Drive and Concord Mall Drive. That roundabout will allow traffic to exit onto SR 33 or to continue over the new overpass and onto Sunnyside.
Elkhart County Engineer Charlie McKenzie said the county has eyed that stretch of SR 33 for over a decade as needing improvements due to the high volume of cars — maybe 10,000 vehicles a day — that go over the train tracks there. And with 90-100 trains per day that can stop whenever the railroad deems it necessary, traffic often gets backed up.
"That creates a real issue as far as commuter traffic, bus traffic, emergency services," McKenzie said. "Norfolk Southern Railroad, legally, can stop those trains whenever they want. They don't have to provide a schedule."
In total, the project is projected at around $37 million, per the Michiana Area Council of Governments, though a state grant will cover the remainder of the cost.
Elkhart County Commissioner Suzanne Weirick said the overpass will be a welcome addition to the area.
“This project has been a long in coming, so hopefully it will be appropriate and we can move forward with it,” Weirick said.
At the same meeting, commissioners approved significant funding for other bridge projects including around $1.3 million for improvements to the bridge that carries County Road 142 over Turkey Creek near Near Paris and funding for a replacement to the bridge carrying County Road 26 over Baugo Creek.
