Muncie High Street Bridge month-long closure takes county by surprise

This story has been updated.

The supposedly sudden closure of a major bridge into downtown Muncie has taken the county by surprise.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.

At the end of Monday morning’s Delaware County Commissioners meeting, County EMS director John Coutinho told commissioners that High Street Bridge had been closed without advanced notice to his department – he heard about it on the dispatch radio.

“It wasn’t closed when I come in,” said commissioner Shannon Henry.  Coutinho replied, “No, it happened about 8:15 – or 9:15 – this morning.”

Coutinho said when the county highway department has to close a bridge, his department gets notified in advance.

On Tuesday, the Muncie Sanitary District updated its social media to say it is closing roads “for upgrades to the large sewer line which crosses under High St. and runs along Franklin St.”  It added the roads will be closed for about two months, longer than the one-month time frame county officials had heard about.  

Those streets are:

• Wheeling at the High Street Bridge
• High Street from Wysor south to Gilbert
• Franklin from High Street south to Gilbert
• Wysor from High Street east to Walnut

Those streets surround a piece of land where a new city gateway park and apartment complex is scheduled to be built, according to a city announcement last month.

Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host.  Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.