Opening set for Indiana portion of Fort-Port highway

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana portion of a divided highway eventually linking Fort Wayne and Toledo is ready for traffic.

The News-Sentinel and WPTA-TV report Gov. Mitch Daniels and others will cut the ribbon Wednesday on a 10-mile stretch of the U.S. 24 "Fort to Port" highway between the Interstate 469 bypass around Fort Wayne and the Ohio border.

The project is expected to improve safety and commerce along the highway that will connect Indiana with the port of Toledo where the Maumee River flows into Lake Erie. The Indiana Department of Transportation says about 40 accidents per year occurred from 2002 to 2006 on the Indiana portion of the former winding, two-lane highway.

The project's website says the Indiana stretch is due to open to traffic Wednesday.