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City of South Bend: PE/RW Services for Bendix Drive 9 <br /> <br />KEY STAKEHOLDERS <br />The St. Joseph County Airport Authority owns the land surrounding Bendix <br />Drive north of the railroad crossing and operates the South Bend Internatfonal Airport (SBN). <br /> <br />We contacted Mike Daigle, A.A.E., CEO and Executfve Director, and discussed the project. He <br />indicated there aren’t specific restrictfons or criteria to consider pertaining to the proposed <br />project scope and SBN. During our recent conversatfon and past discussions with Mike, the <br />Airport Authority does have a vested interest in South Bend considering an alignment shift of <br />Bendix Drive to the east, thus providing additfonal room for an extension or their east -west <br />runway. <br /> <br />RAILROAD COORDINATION <br />Effectfve coordinatfon with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportatfon District (NICTD) <br />on the South Shore Line Railroad is necessary on this project. Brian Arterbery is our certffied <br />railroad coordinator and has extensive experience working with NICTD. Our team is familiar <br />with their policies and procedures. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />We reached out to Kevin Dywan, Senior <br />Engineer and NICTD’s point of contact <br />during this project, to discuss the project <br />and identffy potentfal impacts for <br />consideratfon during design and <br />constructfon. <br /> <br />Potential NICTD considerations & <br />impacts: <br />» New Trail adjacent to NICTD South Shore Line Railroad — NICTD does not typically <br />require channelizatfon and does not antfcipate a need for any barrier or fence <br />separatfng the proposed trail from the railroad line. <br /> <br />» Center-Turn-Lane & Access to H.B. Fuller — INDOT guidelines restrict turn lanes <br />across railroads. We recommend transitfoning from the center-turn-lane to a <br />protected median in advance of the crossing with a left-turn- only lane on the <br />southern approach for access. <br /> <br />» New Pedestrian Trail Signal & Crossing — NICTD prefers pedestrians cross <br />perpendicular to the track; the existfng track uses a large radius curve where it <br />crosses from the east side of Bendix Drive to the SBN property. The pedestrian <br />crossing angle of approach is a challenge and may require additfonal right-of-way to <br />provide a safe crossing. <br /> <br />» NICTD Crossing Upgrades — existfng signal componentry is outdated and may not <br />be able to communicate with a 3rd gate conditfon, if necessary, at the pedestrian <br />crossing. NICTD may require grade crossing warning system improvements and may <br />require gate improvements or signal system adjustments. The existfng gate <br />locatfons may also need to shift to accommodate both the roadway improvements <br />and new trail. Another potentfal trail crossing optfon is a “Z-Gate”, which would not <br />require a 3rd gate. <br /> <br /> <br />Early and regular communication with NICTD is necessary to help avoid <br />scheduling delays, gain a consensus on the best practices for a safe, at-grade <br />crossing and warning detection, and identify project costs for flagging and <br />protection measures. <br />PROJECT APPROACH <br />POSSIBLE TRAIL ALIGNMENT SOLUTION - <br />perpendicular crossing above <br />“Z-gate” example below <br />TRAIL-CROSSING-WARNING SYSTEM <br />constraints <br />EAST-WEST RUNWAY—BENDIX DRIVE <br />relationship