| US 31 | |||
| Begin | Dyer | ||
| End | Townley | ||
| Length | 152 mi | ||
| Length | 244 km | ||
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According to existingcountries.com, US 31 is a US Highway in the US state of Indiana. The road forms a north-south route through the center of the state, and also serves the state capital, Indianapolis. The US 31 can be divided into two parts; the southern portion which runs parallel to Interstate 65 and has no major function, and the northern portion from Indianapolis to South Bend which is a 2×2 divided highway and partial freeway. The route is 425 kilometers long.
Travel directions
US 31 in Carmel, on the north side of Indianapolis.
Southern Indiana
At the Jeffersonville suburb of Louisville, US 31 in Kentucky joins Interstate 65 across the Ohio River from Louisville, then US 31 exits from I-65 in Jeffersonville north and follows a parallel route north. On the north side of the metropolitan area, one still crosses Interstate 265, the northern bypass of the urban area. US 31 then runs a short distance from I-65 to the north for a long time. One passes through a number of villages, and a few larger towns such as Scottsburg and Seymour. In the latter place one crosses the US 50. Further north, US 31 forms a bypass of the larger town of Columbus. After that, US 31 is a 2×2 divided highwaywest of I-65 to Indianapolis. The first southern suburbs of Indianapolis follow from Franklin.
Indianapolis
On the south side of Indianapolis, one crosses Interstate 465, the Indianpolis ring road. US 31 is then a 2×3 urban arterial through the southern neighborhoods, Madison Avenue. On the south side of downtown, one crosses Interstate 70. The road then forms a four-lane main street through downtown Indianapolis. On the north side of downtown, Interstate 65 is crossed for the last time, which leads to Chicago. US 31 then forms a four-lane, no-segregation freeway through the northern neighborhoods of the city and intersects I-465 again on the north side. Then you pass through the suburb of Carmel. Because of Carmel, the US 31 is afreeway with 2×3 lanes. North of Westfield, US 31 becomes a 2×2 divided highway.
Northern Indiana
US 31 at Lakeville, south of South Bend.
This section to South Bend is a 2×2 divided highway with hard shoulders and a median strip, but with level intersections. The road runs straight for 50 kilometers to Kokomo, where you cross the US 35. Around Kokomo is a bypass that is designed as a freeway. Then US 31 continues north again, largely straight. At Peru, about 30 kilometers to the north, you cross the 2×2 US 24. The road then gradually veers west and passes by Rochester, before intersecting US 30 at Plymouth, a 2×2 east-west route from Joliet to Fort Wayne. About 12 kilometers to the north one crosses the less important US 6.
This is followed by the last 20 kilometers as a freeway to the city of South Bend, a larger city with more than 100,000 inhabitants and an urban area of 340,000 inhabitants. Here, US 31 merges with US 20, which forms an east-west highway along the south side of Fort Bend and Elkhart. Then US 20 turns off to Michigan City and US 31 continues north as a highway. Just before the border with Michigan, one crosses the Indiana Toll Road, over which Interstate 80 and Interstate 90 run. Then US 31 in Michigan continues as a highway to Benton Harbor and Grand Rapids.
History
According to Anycountyprivateschools, US 31 was created in 1926. US 31 was one of the major highways in Indiana, serving as a north-south link between Louisville, Indianapolis, and South Bend. I-65 was built parallel to US 31 south of Indianapolis during the 1960s and 1970s. There is no Interstate Highway north of Indianapolis, however, this is the main missing Interstate connection in Indiana, between Indianapolis and South Bend. As a result, the entire US 31 between the two cities has been doubled to 2×2 lanes. Circular roads have been built around most of the larger towns, but you still have to cross Carmel and Kokomo.
St. Joseph Valley Parkway
The St. Joseph Valley Parkway has been constructed around South Bend, a freeway bypass that includes US 31, as well as a portion of US 20 that is not double-numbered with US 31. In 1962 the first part of this opened on the west side of South Bend. In the mid-1970s, the highway was extended to its current cloverleaf interchange with US 31 on the south side of South Bend. In 1979, the highway joined the Indiana Toll Road on the north side of South Bend, then ran to the Michigan border.
Kokomo Bypass
Kokomo’s original bypass was built in the 1950s to relieve the center of through traffic. On the east side of the city of Kokomo, US 31 has been moved over 21 kilometers over a new route as a freeway. This $155 million project was completed between 2009 and 2013 and opened on November 26, 2013. The old route through Kokomo has since been numbered as State Route 931.
Plymouth – South Bend
On September 17, 2008, construction began on a new freeway between US 30 and US 20 between Plymouth and South Bend. Initially, work focused on the middle section, between Linkville and the south side of South Bend. This section was opened on August 21, 2014. On November 26, 2014, all lanes in the south of South Bend to US 20, and on the southern portion of existing US 31 to US 30 at Plymouth, also opened.
Indianapolis – Westfield
The grade-separated connection between US 31 and State Route 431 (Keystone Parkway) is the oldest section of the freeway north of Indianapolis and opened in or before the 1990s. Between 2012 and 2014, a three-mile section north of it was converted into a freeway (up to 161st Street). This opened on November 5, 2013 (146th Street) and on August 16, 2014 (161st Street). Further north, it opened its connection with State Route 38 on October 29, 2012.
In 2014, US 31 around Carmel was completely closed for six months to accelerate the conversion to a freeway by one year. The new highway opened to traffic on November 25, 2014 for 4.5 kilometers, between Old Meridian Street and 136th Street. On December 18, 2015, the missing stretch of freeway opened between I-465 and Old Meridian Street. The interchange with I-465 itself opened to traffic on December 29, 2015.
Westfield – Kokomo
US 31 has been gradually upgraded between Indianapolis and Kokoma, first as a freeway bypass of Kokomo and the Indianapolis suburban extension, but later intersections between the two cities were also made grade separated. On November 22, 2016, a grade-separated connection with State Route 28 opened at Tipton.
Future
Between 2013 and 2015, several new stretches of US 31 opened as a freeway between Indianapolis and South Bend, solving the major bottlenecks. It is not planned to fully develop US 31 into a freeway, but some adjustments are still being made locally.
Traffic intensities
About 67,000 vehicles cross the border into Kentucky every day via I-65/US 31. The section parallel to I-65 has only about 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles and 20,000 around Columbus. The 2×2 part to Indianapolis has 10,000 and 33,000 vehicles. North of I-465 on the north side of Indianapolis, there are 56,000 vehicles, after which the intensities remain fairly high at 25,000 until Kokomo for a rural route. North of Peru this drops sharply to 12,000 vehicles and only from Plymouth do the intensities rise again to 22,000 just before South Bend. The South Bend bypass has 18,000 to 31,000 vehicles per day.
