W&A was part of the Tier 1 Team for I-69 Evansville to Indianapolis Study and then was hired to oversee all six section consultants for the Tier 2 Study. Linda Weintraut developed templates for historic reports and for public presentations for the project. Weintraut has overseen field surveys and has managed quality control for all reports and environmental documentation dealing with historic properties, including eligibility reports prepared for the Keeper of the National Register, for the first five sections. For Section 6, W&A conducted all of the reconnaissance- and intensive-level survey for the additional information aboveground studies and maintained the data in a GIS database. W&A prepared all Section 106 documentation including the historic context, eligibility assessment, boundary delineations, effects assessment, and the 800.11 documentation. Weintraut has consulted with other DOTs, especially as it related to the Amish area and she directed the methodology by which the Amish area was evaluated as both a rural landscape and a Traditional Cultural Place. In addition, Weintraut facilitated public and consulting party meetings on this controversial project. As part of mitigation, Weintraut developed a public education component. As part of the NEPA process, Weintraut reviewed and in some cases wrote portions of the DEIS and the FEIS for each section. She has successfully dealt with very complex issues from vernacular landscape, to a nudist colony, to a potential Amish cultural district, to rural historic districts, to historic landscape quarry district, and to an Additional Information Study of the Recent Past, all while maintaining NEPA compliance.

In order to mitigate the adverse impacts on the limestone landscape with the construction of Section 5 of the I-69 project, W&A developed a memorandum that called for, among other items, a multiple property nomination for the limestone industry. The landscape of limestone dominates the environment of the Bloomington area so it was only fitting that this history be documented in a format that would allow for the contribution of others. The context of the multiple property nomination brought together data and information about the industry that the project team had learned in site visits, research, and in oral histories In a comprehensive format. The documentation is complex, listing registration requirements for a variety of resources from individual quarries to mill buildings and office buildings to scale houses and tramways in addition to historic districts that span square miles and multiple companies.

In 2015, Weintraut & Associates was contracted to conduct and manage Section 106 consultation for the Madison Bridge Approach in Madison, Indiana. The project was set within a National Register-listed district that was also a National Historic Landmark in one of the most historically sensitive towns in the state. Set along the Ohio River, Madison traced its roots to the state’s inception. Homes that contributed to these districts would incur effects. W&A held consulting party meetings throughout the Section 106 process in a variety of formats including a kick-off meeting, alternatives review, effects discussion and site visit, and mitigation. W&A undertook the challenge of assessing effects and negotiating the memorandum of agreement in such a way that consulting parties would have input, the adverse effects would be mitigated, and the project could move forward to construction.

W&A oversaw the Section 106 identification and evaluation for this truss bridge rehabilitation project. In addition to following the Historic Bridge Project Development Process, W&A completed a Phase Ia archaeology reconnaissance and prepared the finding of effect.

W&A worked with bridge engineers and the environmental team to bring this long-running bridge replacement project to conclusion. Section 106 efforts had begun in 2000, and pre-dated the Indiana Historic Bridges Programmatic Agreement (PA) and guidance from INDOT and DHPA. Following the current INDOT Cultural Resources Manual, W&A established an Area of Potential Effects for above-ground an archaeological resources, identified historic properties, and prepared the finding of APE, eligibility, and effect. W&A prepared marketing materials and worked with project engineers to prepare a Historic Bridge Alternatives Analysis for this Non-Select Warren thru truss. W&A also consulted with the SHPO reviewer about the designation of this bridge as “Non-Select.”

Weintraut & Associates was part of a multi-disciplinary team that conducted the cultural studies for an eight-mile trail through Indianapolis. The Trail connects individually listed and eligible National Register properties, National Register districts and National Landmarks as well as entertainment venues and cultural attractions, all within the city of Indianapolis. The award-winning trail, which is located along city streets, uses contemporary design elements to set itself apart from the historic environment. For this project, Weintraut & Associates worked closely with team members to identify historic and potential archaeological issues and to work with stakeholders with an interest in these issues. Linda Weintraut was the Section 106 lead for all of these sections. Weintraut & Associates crafted public education mitigation in terms of interpretative signage to offset the adverse effects of the project. This signage provides information about Indianapolis’s cultural resources.

This streetscape redevelopment project in downtown Huntingburg included the construction of a “flex street” to allow for a more pedestrian-friendly environment in the National Register-listed Huntingburg Commercial Historic District. Weintraut & Associates led the cultural studies and worked closely with team members and local representatives to identify historic issues and prepared a Certificate of Approval (COA) application for the work within the historic district. W&A attended the Indiana Historic Preservation Review Board meeting to answer questions about the project. The Board unanimously approved the COA application, allowing the City of Huntingburg to pursue this project with State funding.

This interstate project on the northeast side of Indianapolis included eight historic resources ranging from the antebellum era to the recent past. Survey work included a reconnaissance- and intensive-level survey of a dense metropolitan area. W&A acted quickly to identify and evaluate nine recent past neighborhoods against the “Residential Planning and Development in Indiana, 1940-1973” Multiple Property Document Form, which had been accepted by the State Historic Preservation Review Board in the midst of Section 106 identification efforts. Historians conducted research using plat maps, newspaper articles, and property listings to evaluate the significance of these neighborhoods. W&A led site visits with the project team, INDOT-CRO, and SHPO staff to review neighborhood composition and integrity and consider eligibility.