Within a few years, CR 1300N in Milford will be extended west from Old SR 15 to SR 15 with an overpass built over the railroad tracks. This is a view looking west from just off Old SR 15. InkFreeNews Photo by Tim Ashley.

By Tim Ashley
InkFreeNews

MILFORD — Environmental study work is in progress on plans to extend CR 1300N west from Old SR 15 to SR 15 in Milford that would include an overpass across the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks.

According to Steve Moriarty, superintendent of the Kosciusko County Highway Department, environmental work includes soil borings to determine the types of soil present and whether or not those soils can support a road.

“It will help us to know what materials to use (for example) when driving the pilings for the overpass,” he said, adding the environmental study will dictate to a considerable degree how the project is designed. An environmental study is part of the preliminary work in the project, which is in the beginning stages, Moriarty said.

Extending CR 1300N to the west will “make it a safer intersection and a straight shot through Milford,” he said.

Currently, motorists coming from SR 15 have to access 1300N, more commonly referred to as the Syracuse-Milford Road, by Syracuse Street and Old SR 15 or also through Milford Junction and then Old SR 15.

A combination of funding from the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Local Trax Rail Overpass Program and county money will pay for the project.

Moriarty noted construction of the road extension is set to begin in 2022.