KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) _ Motorists driving through Indiana for Thanksgiving may cut a few minutes off their trip with the opening of the new U.S. 31 bypass around Kokomo.
 
       The Indiana Department of Transportation says the $155 million, 13-mile freeway section will allow travelers to avoid 15 traffic lights through Kokomo. That old section of road will be renamed Indian 931.
 
       Gov. Mike Pence is scheduled to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new section of highway at noon Tuesday and then lead a caravan on the new road.
 
       A new 20-mile stretch of U.S. 31 south of South Bend is expected to open in about a year. Improvements also are being made to the highway through the northern Indianapolis suburbs of Carmel and Westfield.