US 6
County: Porter and Lake
Construction start: 2006
Construction finish: 2008
Estimated construction cost: $43.4 million
This two-year, $21.2 million Major Moves project involves construction of added travel lanes on US 6 in Portage from Scottsdale Road, 2.44 miles west of State Road 149 to 0.18 miles east of State Road 149. The three-mile project will be constructed in several phases with a final completion scheduled for June 2008.
Once completed US 6 will have four 12-foot wide travel lanes with protected dual left turn lanes at most intersections along the project and replace several driveway culverts. Another big aspect of the project is the construction of two retention ponds and an updated storm sewer system that will tie into those ponds. Five-foot wide sidewalks will also be constructed along the entire project.
In 2007, the Lake County portion of US 6 will be constructed. This is also an added travel lanes project at an estimated cost of $23.2 million.
US 6 is currently a two-lane highway that runs through the south side of Portage, which has seen significant growth from business, retail and housing developments. The area is very congested with a current daily traffic in excess of 20,000 vehicles per day including a high volume of truck traffic. Adding two more travel lanes will provide much needed relief to local residents and the many motorists that travel on US 6 each day.
Reducing congestion and providing protected left turn lanes will improve the safety of the motoring public and the added travel lanes and intersection improvements will help ease congestion and provide motorists with free flowing traffic.
The city of Portage has seen recent growth on the south side of town; increased mobility and a safer roadway will make the area more attractive to new business and future development.
