The Allen County Highway Department's mission is to build better roads that people may travel freely, comfortably, and safely in the pursuit of their daily interests and activities. That businesses and industries may have convenient highways for the transportation of goods and services.

The Allen County Highway is responsible for the maintenance and preservation of 1,354.58miles of public roadways, 392 bridges, over 800 culverts, 8,756 signs, 30 traffic signals, 300 miles of pavement markings, hundreds of drainage structures, and many miles of side ditches along our county roads.

The Highway Department is operated from three different locations. The Central office is located in downtown Fort Wayne. This office houses the Administration, Engineering Divisions, Technical Services Divisions.. The Central office oversees the department's budget and administers all our maintenance and construction programs. Our North and South Maintenance Facilities handle the day-to-day maintenance of our roads. This may include berming, patching, mowing, grading, brush cutting, and snow/ice removal.

The dividing line between the North Maintenance Facility and the South Maintenance Facility is Bass Road and the Maumee River.

Our Sign Shop, located near the North Maintenance Facility, maintains all our traffic signs and pavement markings.

What We Do:

• Road Conversions Program: What is a Road Conversion? It is converting a stone road to chip and seal. Any County maintained stone roadway that has 2 or more homes will be converted to chip and seal. The Highway Department will widen the roadway to ± 20 feet. This process is spread out over 5 years pending availability of materials and funding. If you have any questions please contact Lara Dorsett.
• Bridge Maintenance Program: The maintenance consists of the repair and replacement of our bridges. Bridge repair lists are developed using historic data, field inspection information and conditional ratings. Bridges are also improved or replaced as part of our road improvement program.
• Concrete/Pavement Repair Program: This program involves repairing concrete/asphalt streets located in subdivisions. The engineering department coordinates this program with the Community Association representing the subdivision. Our staff reviews the problems and develops alternate solutions with cost estimates.
• Capitol Improvement Program: This includes projects that require major road repair and/or reconstruction. Project selection is based on need (road condition, traffic counts, congestion, safety problems, etc.). Many of these projects are identified in the 2025 Transportation Plan for Allen County, which is developed by the Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council (NIRCC). The Urban Transportation Advisory Board (UTAB) approves projects for funding with Federal Highway Funds.
• Drainage Program: This program consists of drainage projects that solve drainage problems across roadways and along our right-of-ways. These projects may include improving side ditches, repairing tile, installing new storm sewers and replacing undersized culverts.
• Snow and Ice Control Program: This program is considered emergency work in that the roads and streets must be cleared, as quickly as possible, to insure the safety of the public.
• Traffic Control Program: The Allen County Highway supplies and maintains its own Sign Shop. The Sign Technician and Sign Installers maintain all of the traffic signs (street name, stop and yield signs) on unincorporated county roads. All requests for new or revised signs are evaluated through engineering studies to see if it is warranted.