The City of Hammond in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Transportation and Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) begins road modifications to Kennedy Avenue between the Indiana Toll Road and 164th Place starting March 3, 2025. The project is funded 80 percent by the Federal Highway Administration through NIRPC with 20 percent funded by the City. The project converts the existing 4 lane roadway to one lane in each direction, a center turn lane, parking lane, bike lane and pedestrian facilities. The road diet reduces travel lanes from 4 to 3.
“Continuing with our ongoing plans to improve the Kennedy Avenue Corridor, this project further provides recreational path facilities to allow residents in Hessville to eventually access the visionary Marquette Greenway Trail to the north,” said Mayor Thomas M. McDermott Jr.
During construction, one lane will remain open in each direction between 165th Street and Gibson Transfer Road just south of the Kennedy Bridge over the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad tracks. North of Gibson Transfer Road the roadway will be restricted to one lane northbound only for the duration of the project, expected to be completed in September 2025. The one-way restriction allows Lake County Highway Department to complete bridge repairs to the Kennedy Avenue Bridge over the IHB railroad.
“The Contractor will first construct the existing northbound lanes from March 3 to mid-June,” said Dean Button, Hammond City Engineer, “then traffic will be moved to the northbound lanes and the existing southbound side will be built into September 2025. Access to businesses will remain open during construction.”
