Allen County plans to install turn lanes on U.S. 231 to cut down on potential congestion resulting from the first manufacturing business in Allen Springs Industrial Park.

At an Allen Fiscal Court meeting Tuesday, magistrates approved an order allowing Judge-Executive Dennis Harper to sign an agreement for the lanes that drivers will use to enter the industrial park. The project will be funded with $550,000 in discretionary funds from the state.

Harper said the turn lanes will make traffic more manageable when a new Halton Corp. manufacturing facility opens. The section of U.S. 231 running past the industrial park is currently four lanes wide with no turn lanes, Harper said.

So far, there have been no issues with congestion in the area because the Halton facility is not yet operating.

“They’ll be blocking a lane of traffic if they turn to go in, and that’s a 65 mph road, so we really need those turn lanes,” he said.

Harper said he expects September to be the earliest the turn lanes could be finished.

Halton, a Finnish manufacturer of indoor climate and environment products, is a well-established business in Allen County.

The group’s new facility is the first to be set up in the industrial park, according to Johnny Hobdy, director of the county’s Industrial Development Authority and a former judge-executive.

Hobdy said the county will oversee the project despite U.S. 231 being a state highway maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The project will install two turn lanes at the main entrance to the industrial park and an additional turn lane on Johnson Road, which will lead directly to the Halton building in the park, Hobdy said.

Though a ribbon-cutting for the facility is scheduled May 16, when the facility will be operational is still unclear, said Cathy LaFitte, executive director of the Scottsville-Allen County Chamber of Commerce.

“They don’t know a date yet when production will start,” she said.

LaFitte said she anticipates Halton’s expansion to result in more jobs in the community and development near the industrial park.

“We’re hoping that now that they have water and sewer coming out to the park, we’re hoping it’s going to spur growth in the community,” she said.