On Oct. 16, Kennedy Avenue south of Junction Avenue reopens to local traffic. Three days later, at 7 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, the Town Dump reopens. After a summer of closures around Junction, that sounds like the end of something. It isn't. The Town's construction update dated Oct. 2 says work on the bridge portion has "so far been minimal." Crews spent most of that time moving utilities, and building the overpass over the railroad tracks is now expected to start in February or March 2027.
So the detours of 2025 and 2026 came from groundwork. The main piece, the bridge that takes Kennedy over the Canadian National line, is still four to five months away.
How to get around starting this month
The Oct. 2 update changes how several places along the corridor are reached. These are the rules as the Town wrote them:
- Kennedy south of Junction reopens Oct. 16 for local access only. The Town says plainly that it "will not accommodate thru traffic."
- Businesses on Kennedy north of Junction can only be reached from the north, either from Kennedy at Main Street or from Division Street. You can't get to them from the south.
- Junction Avenue now follows a new route. Residents and businesses on Junction get there from Joliet Street.
- Public Works, Wastewater and Animal Control are reached only by taking Joliet Street to Junction Avenue.
- The old route from Joliet onto north Kennedy is gone. In the Town's words, that entry "no longer exists."
The fourth and fifth points will catch people who drive by memory. If you used to turn off Joliet onto Kennedy heading north to drop something at Public Works, that turn is gone. You now get there on the realigned Junction.
Kennedy from Junction north to Division has been listed as closed "until further notice" since the Town's summer closure notice. The October update doesn't give a reopening date for that stretch. It says only that "there is no access to north Kennedy via Junction Ave. at this time." The Town also warns that "additional Kennedy Avenue closures will occur" as contractor F.H. Paschen works through the rest of the project.
Farther south, the Town's road-work page has posted lane restrictions on Kennedy between Main Street and Junction for utility relocation. Expect intermittent single-lane closures with flaggers between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Why the bridge start kept moving
The schedule has slipped more than once, and the record shows why. At a public hearing on March 30, 2022, the Town's presentation told residents to expect Kennedy closed from Division Street to Oak Street, with closures in "Spring and Summer 2024." That didn't happen. At the April 8, 2026 Town Council meeting, the Town's director said construction had been expected to start May 1. Utility relocations by Comcast, AT&T and NIPSCO gas held it up. The October update now puts the bridge start in early 2027 and says utility work is "nearly complete" for both active phases.
| When the forecast was made | What it said |
|---|---|
| March 2022 public hearing | Kennedy closures expected in spring and summer 2024 |
| April 2026 Town Council | Construction start expected May 1, then delayed by utility relocations |
| Oct. 2, 2026 Town update | Bridge construction expected to begin February/March 2027 |
Each delay came from work underground and on the poles, before any bridge piers could go in. Comcast, AT&T and NIPSCO lines had to move out of the way of a wider road. Most of that is now done. That's why the Town is willing to give a season for the bridge start.
What the bridge is for
The Kennedy crossing at the tracks is the reason this project gets federal railroad money. The Federal Railroad Administration's October 2024 environmental finding quotes the Town's grant application. It says the at-grade crossing carries "close to 10,000 vehicles daily" over two Wisconsin Central/Canadian National tracks that carry 32 trains a day. Kennedy also crosses two inactive Norfolk Southern tracks there. The same application points to a regional problem: the area "lacks sufficient north-south arterial roads."
On its Kennedy Avenue Railroad Overpass project page, the FRA lists stopped trains as a reason for the overpass, including the delays they cause emergency services, along with repeated rear-end crashes at the crossing. Once the overpass is open, the at-grade crossing will be closed for good.
The bridge segment also crosses Seberger Ditch. Federal documents tie the work to excavation in the Hartsdale Pond regional detention basin and planting in the Seberger Ditch floodway.
Who pays for which half
The two active phases have roughly equal price tags, but the Town's share of each is very different. Town Council records show F.H. Paschen's Phase 1 bid, the bridge segment from Scherland Drive to Division Street, at $17,446,034.09. Schererville's share is $2,286,495.62, about 13%. The Phase 2 bid, Oak Street to Junction Avenue, came in at $16,480,171.64, and the Town's share is $7,746,122.64, about 47%.
That gap comes from the railroad crossing. The bridge qualified for an $8,452,558 FRA grant, which the Council described in April 2026 as a reimbursable grant. At the same meeting, the Council approved a $784,385.60 Phase 1 payment to INDOT. In July 2026, the Council approved an agreement with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly to handle FRA grant coordination and reporting.
So Phase 2 is the half that reopens this month, and it's also the half where the Town paid close to half the bid. The more expensive bridge half, which carries a far smaller local share, hasn't started.
The longer timeline, and what isn't published yet
The full project widens and rebuilds about 2.46 miles of Kennedy, from roughly US 30 to Main Street. It also rebuilds pieces of Joliet Street, Junction Avenue, Public Works Drive/Kaeser Boulevard, Division Street, Oak Street and the Pennsy Greenway, and adds turn lanes at US 30 and Main Street. The Town's current update estimates 2025 to 2028 for Phases 1 and 2. The project page puts Phase 3, from Main Street to Oak Street, in 2027 to 2029. Phase 4, connecting US 30 to Junction Avenue, is estimated for 2029 to 2031.
That means the Main-to-Oak stretch could see work while the bridge is still going up, if both stay on their posted estimates. The Town calls these estimates, and the past four years show how much utility work can move them.
Several things a Kennedy driver would want to know haven't been published as of early October 2026:
- How long Kennedy will be closed at the tracks during bridge work. No current Town, INDOT or FRA document gives a length of time or a signed detour for 2027 and 2028.
- What happens to the Pennsy Greenway during construction. The long-term plan moves the trail to follow the realigned Junction Avenue southeast of Kennedy. No temporary trail route or closure has been announced for the bridge work.
- When Kennedy reopens north of Junction. It's still "until further notice."
The Town says it will post new closures and updates on its website and social media. The Kennedy Avenue Project page is where the Oct. 2 update lives, and it's the first place the 2027 traffic plan should show up. US 30 and US 41 are state highways, so the Town directs residents to INDOT for their status.
If you own a home near Kennedy, Junction or Division and want to know where it stands while the corridor is under construction, The Lauren Roman Group can put together a current, local estimate that accounts for the project's timeline. Start with a free home valuation, or browse our Schererville neighborhood page for more on the town.
