The new bridge being constructed on U.S. 31 over the Elkhart Western Railroad between 13th and 14th Road is one step closer to honoring the life of an Eastern Pulaski Middle School student who was killed at the location on December 5, 2018.
On Monday the Marshall County Commissioners passed a resolution asking the State of Indiana, the Indiana Department of Transportation, and the Indiana General Assembly to support their request to name the bridge in honor of Owen Abbott, the student killed in a tragic school bus/truck accident at the railroad crossing.
Commissioners Stan Klotz said this summer the Roads and Transportation Interim Study Committee will review all requests and make determinations.
The resolution says:
WHEREAS, the State of Indiana has undertaken to redesign and construct U.S. Highway 31 from Indianapolis to the Indiana/Michigan line as a limited access highway and has completed various portions of US 31 as a limited access highway; and
WHEREAS, the intersection of US Highway 31 and the railroad tracks owned by Norfolk Southern Railroad in Marshall County has been the location of numerous serious semi-truck collisions which includes the tragic school bus/truck collision of December 5, 2018;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Board of Marshall County Commissioners that the bridge constructed on US 31 at the railroad intersection be named in honor of Owen Abbott, a school student who was killed in the tragic school bus/truck accident of December 5, 2018, at the crossing.
The state held a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site on April 21st. This is a $28 million project that will take two construction seasons to complete. Completion is expected to be late in the summer of 2025.
