The Herald-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan • 1

The Newspaper for Southwest Michigan SUNDAY, August 24, 2003 $1.50 Better never late than 31 Say when? U.S. 31 freeway finally reaches Twin Cities BENTON lerrrtonaiHoaa i HARBOR "i "Remainder of the construction from Niles north to the Twin Cities probably will not be completed until 1 972." -The News-Palladium, May 2, 1964 "Roberts said he expects the freeway from the state line to 1-1 96 to be completed about 1 980, barring I U0.S.31PtoJ-94 ST. JOSEPH If NaDlerAve. By SCOTT AIKEN H-P Staff Writer Like hundreds of other commuters, Larry Koepfle regularly drives most of the length of Berrien County on U.S. 3 1 Koepfle, a South Bend resident who works in Benton Harbor, has no 4 1 I 1 I If II Meadowbrook Road il Lr-w A title run for the Tigers? Young guards like Tashayla Jackson (above) are expected 'to lead the way for Benton Harbor -PagelB.

unscheduled delays. The News-Palladium, March 31 1972 "Linking with I-94 and 1-196 is not now scheduled for completion prior to 1981 or 1982." The Herald-Palladium, Oct 10, 1977 "The new U.S. 31 freeway through Berrien County will be completed by the summer of 1983 if 'no hitches' develop, according to the Department of State Highways and Transportation engineer FOCUS other practical choice for his daily trek than a route that changes from "interstate highway to a crowded and sometimes deadly stretch of two-lane blacktop. With the opening next Wednesday of a 9.5-mile leg of the U.S. 31 freeway from a point northwest of Berrien Springs to Napier Avenue in Benton Township, Koepfle can avoid the worst section of the old road.

He also expects to have fewer white-knuckle moments behind the wheel. "I can't wait for it," said Koepfle, an associate planner for the Southwestern Michigan Commission. "The deficiencies we had 20 years ago are still there. This road will address them" After the new leg opens Wednesday at a w- Tabor Road 1 "Construction on U.S. 31 -9 If at the interchange with i mm the rerouted Pipestone MM Road in Sodus Township m-r continues in August 2002.

School fashion Conservative styles more popular this year, retailers say -PagelE U.S. 31 winds toward the St. lf fJf Joseph River in this southern view lf lmMK from the Tabor Road overpass I 'A earlier this month. llW BERRIEN I U.S. 31 freeway construction 4 cost of $97 million, only a 2-to 3-mile section will remain to be built in Southwest Michigan.

That section will connect the freeway to Interstate 94 and complete a project first envisioned more than 40 years ago. Planning began in the 1960s for a free- way to replace old 31, the main road between Niles, Berrien Springs and the Twin Cities. With First section Location: 3.3 miles from state line to U.S Bertrand Township Completed: August 1979 Cost: $6.6 million VtfW I i Dignitaries gather for INt tne of a new Second section mrA Location: 3.6 miles from U.S. 12 to Walton SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN Official quits, recallers don't Effort to oust Dowagiac mayor may continue despite resignation of councilman at center of controversy -PageIC supervising the construction. The Herald-Palladium, Feb.

7, 1978 "(The) highway is the first complete section of freeway that will link Indiana and Interstate 94 east of Benton Harbor. (The) project is supposed to be completed about 1984." The Herald-Palladium, Aug. 11, 1979 "Earliest completion date for the U.S. 31 freeway linking Indiana with I-94 and 1-196 in Benton Township is 1985, said Phillip Lamb, regional coordinator for transportation planning for. the Michigan Department of Transportation at informal public meetings Tuesday." -The Herald-Palladium, Dec.

12, 1979 "The state Department of Transportation has pushed back bid-letting dates for two phases of work on the U.S. 31 freeway project in Berrien County, but the new road is still scheduled for completion in 1986." The Herald-Palladium, April 17, 1981 "Rush said engineering and right-of- way acquisition is continuing for the remainder of the project, scheduled to hook up with Interstate 196 east of Benton Harbor in 1987." The Herald-Palladium, July 17, 1982 "Donald Rush, an MDOT engineer, said earlier this year that the 1 987 completion date was 'out the window' because of a new state law that requires the state to use 90 percent of its trunk-line fund for maintenance, not construction." -The Herald-Palladium, Nov. 30, 1983 "Contracts to build the last section of tong-delayed U.S. 31 are scheduled to be awarded by 1991 or 1992, according to James Pitz, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, and the new road could be open by 1993." The Herald-Palladium, Sept 27, 1986 The Michigan Department of Transportation estimated that construction on U.S. 31 could be completed by 1 994 if the funds are available." -The Herald-Palladium, Aug.

27, 1988 "The MDOT says U.S. 31 will be completed by 1996." -The Herald-Palladium, April 25, 1990 "Transportation officials have said the highway, which will run from South Bend to Benton Harbor, is scheduled to be completed by 1997." The Herald-Palladium, Feb. 20, 1992 "The road project, begun in the 1970s, is now being held up by a shortage of funding." -The Herald-Palladium, Jan. 25, 1995 "Most of the new U.S. 31 freeway in dr---- Berrien Springs! in 1 I October 1992.

11 31 high traffic volumes and accident rates, it was deemed dangerously obsolete. Evaluating alternative routes for the new freeway in 1975, the Michigan Department of Transportation estimated the cost at $100 million and 1 Road, Bertrand and Niles townships Completed: Summer 1987 Cost: $31 million, including $1 1 .9 million for bridges to span the St. Joseph River just north of Niles-Buchanan Road Third and fourth sections Location: 9.1 miles from Walton Road to Matthew Road, Niles Township; and Matthew Road to Old U.S. 31 northwest of Berrien Springs in Oronoko Township Completed: October 1992 Cost: $26 million, including bridges over the St. Joseph River south of Snow Road Fifth section Location: 9.5 miles from Old U.S.

31 northwest of Berrien Springs to Napier Avenue in Benton Township Completed: Opens Wednesday Cost $97 million, including bridges over the St. Joseph River in Sodus Township completion in the mid-1 980s. As of the freeway's opening to Napier Avenue next week, costs have totaled more than 1 60 million, most of it federal A Boaters float above economy Boating huge business even in slow times -PageIC 'mm iBuchanan' BIJHANAIi Roap! jfl money. MDOT estimates the cost of building the last section to 1-94 at $79.2 million to $110 million, depending on the route chosen. Motorists anxious for a safer road linking north and south Berrien County have waited more than a WEATHER Today Partly sunny Then-Indiana Gov.

Otis Bowen (left) cuts the ribbon to open the first section of U.S. 31 in Michigan, from the state line to U.S. 12, in August 1979. mm, fl) B'tI i i.S4 flBUT- MM MICHIGAN decade for the next sec- tion of freeway to open. The freeway has been open from the state line to a point northwest of Berrien Springs since 1992.

As construction pushed north, traffic High 84 Low 67 mm mmtimmi i mm iMiiwiiHMiiiwtfiaiRMMM mmmmm lymmjmm mm i fmrnt mm Monday Svi INDIANA Warm, humid Berrien County will be finished by 2004, the Michigan Department of Transportation reported Thursday. But north of Napier Avenue, nothing is set in stone." -The Herald-Palladium, Oct 2, 1998 "The completion of U.S. 31 to Napier Road is expected by 2003, leaving the stretch of road between Napier and Interstate 94 to be completed in the future, said MDOT spokesman Ari Adler." The Herald-Palladium, Feb. 4, 1999 between-Berrien Springs and the Twin Cities continued to use the old road, six miles of two-lane jammed with cars, commercial trucks and open to many entry points from intersecting roads, businesses and homes, Please see U.S. 31 page 6A H-P graphic by Wendy Golob and Dave Brown High 82 Low 63 Lake temperature: 75 Details on page 12A Photo credits (clockwise, from bottom): H-P file, SOUTH Tl II Neal Vaughan, Don Campbell, John Maaii Sources: Michigan Department of Transportation and H-P files.

Bainbridge Twp. What caused blackout? Maybe an untrimmed tree 2 killed in head-on collision INDEX Abby, Carolyn Hax Business Classifieds EditorialOpinion Entertainment Focus 1 Homes Michigan Nation 3A Obituaries Real Estate Ads SW Michigan Sports Travel World 4A Police say 15-year-old driver crossed Friday Road center line together millions of pieces of data. The picture is blurred by corporate finger-pointing, political jostling and theecomplcxity of tracing power's lightning-quick movement through thousands of interlinked miles of transmission lines managed by different operators. Missed opportunities to address power grid disturbances in the hours before the blackout may have given the cascadine events such momen By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN Associated Press Writer NEW YORK It all may have started with an untrimmed tree. Then, like a wjldly malfunctioning Rube Goldberg machine, the creaky Eastern power grid took less than an hour to turn a slumping transmission line outside Cleveland into a cascading multistate blackout that snuffed traffic lights, froze elevators and brought subway cars shuddering to a halt.

A preliminary portrait of Aug. 14th 's power failure is emerging as industry officials, federal investigators and outside analysts' piece Sheriff's Department accident reconstructionist Dave Campbell said Zarate did not brake and did not swerve. It appears Zarate drifted into the southbound lane because she was distracted by her son in the back seat, Campbell said. Zarate was partially ejected, from the SUV and struck the pavement. Carlos was still in the back seat when police arrived.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Steinhaus was not injured. He was wearing a seatbelt, and his air Please see CRASH, page 7A Karina Zarate, a farm worker from North and Carlos Manuel Almaras, her 22-month-old son, were northbound on Friday Road near Hill Road in Bainbridge Township when she crossed the center line. The sport utility vehicle she was driving was hit by a wrecker driven by Raymond Steinhaus, 55, of Watcrvliet, Sgt. Rick Biggart of the Berrien County Sheriffs Department said.

Zarate was not wearing a. seat-belt, and there was no type of child restraint device in the car, Biggart said. By KIM STRODE H-P Staff Writer COLOMA A 15-year-old migrant worker and her toddler son were killed Saturday afternoon in a head-on collision with a wrecker truck when the teenager drove across the center line while she was apparently distracted by her son in the back seat. tum that, like an avalanche gathering speed as it rolls downhill, it eventually became impossible to stop. Please see BLACKOUT, page 7A.