A $4.6 million project to widen Maplecrest Road between State Boulevard and Lake Avenue is set to get under way this fall, according to designs filed by Fort Wayne traffic engineers.
The city invited members of the public this week to review the plans, which call for Maplecrest to be widened to four lanes – with an additional turn lane at some points – to accommodate more traffic as part of the road’s $30 million extension from Lake south to Indiana 930 in New Haven.
Traffic planners expect the extension of Maplecrest, which is scheduled to open by the end of 2012, to bring a sharp increase in traffic along the north-south thoroughfare over the next two decades. According to traffic estimates, about 12,600 cars travel Maplecrest daily, with that figure expected to reach nearly 20,000 by 2032.
The widening project’s estimated $4.6 million cost would exceed earlier figures by more than $1 million. City officials could not immediately be reached Wednesday for an explanation of the cost increase.
Both local and federal funds would go toward the work, according to the design plans. The designs would be available in the city’s traffic engineering department at Citizens Square, with a Sept. 5 deadline for people to submit comments.
