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Price-tag Increases For Maplecrest Extension

By Megan Trent
June 25, 2010 Updated Jun 22, 2010 at 4:24 PM EST

NEW HAVEN, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - Allen County officials say a dumping ground that has been overlooked for decades will add about $1.5 million to the Maplecrest Road Extension Project.

County Commissioners say their earliest map of the area is from 1976, but there is evidence inside of what they say looks like an old landfill that indicates the dumping ground may have existed in the 1920's or 1930's.

Officials say they found the overgrown dumping ground in a wooded area just south of River Road. They are now calling the soil there "contaminated" and "unstable."

They say because the area consists of primarily tress and woods, they had no reason to test the area before but they aren't surprised. This isn't the first time Allen County has had construction problems due to poor soil quality.

County Commissioner Linda Bloom says, "Allen County is not known for good soil. When we did the Juvenile Center and the Justice Center, a lot of additional money was spent because of the soil involved."

Even though this is a huge jump in price, officials say it's balanced by the amount the project is still under budget. "This project did come in nine or ten million under budget. It's not money we're going to spend until the project is completed, because a lot of our projects are definitely increased in cost because of our dirt," says Bloom.

The project will eventually create a corridor to the city's southeast side near New Haven. It's still expected to be completed on time in the fall of 2012. Originally estimated at $53 million, it's the most expensive project of it's kind in Allen County history.



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