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Administration (FHWA) issues a final environmental decision on the proposed route in Summer 2005. INDOT plans to begin construction on the new US 31 facility in 2011-2015. STARTING POINTS: ANALYSIS DETERMINANTS Staff of the Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend and St. Joseph County examined the importance of the following historic aspects of the county in order to determine which possible routes were most and least favorable: historic landmarks, historic structures, historic regions, railroad corridors, current roadway types, and landscapes. Because the Commission has ordinances and resolutions that protect local and national landmarks, preserving these from encroachment and damage is a straightforward task and one over which the Commission has the appropriate jurisdiction. The later elements offer added complexity to proposal for a new facility for US 31. The HPC has potential jurisdiction over ranking historic structures that could be granted landmark designation as well as concentration of structures and landscapes that could be granted historic district status. Several pockets of historic structures are located nearby several of the proposed routes. The rail corridors, rural roads, and rural landscapes found in the south of the country have less protective legal opportunity than other elements, yet their presence are importance aspects of St. Joseph County's sense of place and history. Though less able to be legally and directly protected by the Commission, any large-scale impact upon and through the rural landscape may have far more negative consequences than rebuilding upon the more built-up routes route that may have a greater concentration of structures lining the roadway. SUMMARY OF PROPOSED ROUTES C. E. F. and G and RECOMMENDATIONS The proposed routes C, E, and F follow similar paths in St. Joseph County from Tyler Road until just south of New Road and north of the city of Lakeville. These alternatives enter the county via the old Penn Central Railroad line or the current US 31 roadway. They travel north on the western boundary of the city of Lakeville on the old Penn Central railroad bed. Between Osborne and New Roads, Alternative F curves to the east and picks up the current US 31 alignment once again while C and E continue to travel on the railroad line. North of Madison Road route E rejoins the existing US 31 and alternative C follows the railroad bed until it would link with US 20. Where options C, E, and F follow the same roadway, some rated historic structures are in direct danger of destruction. The structures threatened include: 68680 U.S. 31, a 1890 vernacular farmhouse (11078, C/10); the Mary Garrett farmhouse located at 68294 US 31 (11077, S/12); a Queen Anne dating to circa 1910 at 21099 Osborne Road (11044, S/12); and 19290 Osborne Road, a circa 1885 vernacular farmhouse and barn (11043, S/11). Alternatives C and E would affect a less significant vernacular farmhouse dating to 1910 at 20390 New Road (11034, C/10) as well as an outstanding rated structure, the D. F. Bailey barn. Andrew Toth, a South Bend architect, designed this gabled -roof barn in 1940 at 64347 U.S. 31 (11071, 0/13). It is one of the few architect -designed barns in the county. It employed new construction methods (transverse frame) of the period rather than the traditional heavy timber frame system and barn raising techniques. This barn therefore marks a great shift in barn building and social conventions of the area. Alternative C This proposed alignment continues to follow the Penn Central/Conrail railroad corridor until US 20. Option C threatens several historically significant and contributing farms including a vernacular residence at 21405 New Road that rated S/11, the George Philips Farmhouse at 21384 Madison, a contributing Federal style farmhouse, and possibly, a contributing American Foursquare. It seems that these could be