GREENFIELD — In response to objections from residents in the area, a plan to extend McClarnon Drive has once again been dropped from a planning document on the future of Greenfield’s roads.
The Greenfield Thoroughfare Plan was presented at the most recent city council meeting by city engineer Jason Koch and Jill Palmer, a project manager with Shrewsberry and Associates, the planning firm that worked with the city on the plan.
Palmer said the intention of the document is to promote connectivity, but it does not guarantee the building of any specific roads. Projects would need to be developed over several steps, including obtaining funding and conducting environmental studies.
What the plan does do, she said, is show possible funders — including the Indiana Department of Transportation or the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization — that Greenfield has specific goals, and that funding listed projects would help it work toward them.
The plan aims to help make Greenfield easier to navigate and less congested. For example, it envisions diverting large trucks away from downtown, which Koch said is a frequent subject of complaints. It also strives to meet the anticipated increase in traffic demand as Greenfield continues to grow.
The full Thoroughfare Plan includes 20 prioritized projects, which Palmer said might take place over decades. The plan includes a new interchange for Interstate 70; 13 intersection improvements; and three sections of road that would be widened.
All projects would consider how and whether the roads would be used by people biking, walking or taking other forms of transportation besides cars.
Its total cost would be over $300 million. Palmer said the plan was a “very aggressive” one.
“We wanted to encourage you to think big,” she said.
Among the dozens of proposed projects, one extending McClarnon Drive from State Street to Apple Street drew controversy.
Classified as a potential “minor collector” that could divert some traffic away from main roads on the city’s north side, it resembles a project proposed in 2008. Homeowners in the neighborhoods surrounding the proposed round extension came together then to oppose it, citing environmental and safety concerns. Ultimately, the city council voted down the project.
Representatives of the same neighborhoods, including some of the same individuals, objected this time as well. At the city council meeting last week, they were represented by an attorney, David Murphy.
This time, Koch tried to emphasize that while the project would divert some traffic, he did not believe it would lead to congestion or to large trucks passing by homes. He also reminded the council that funding, an environmental plan and more consultation with the community would be needed before anything was ready to be built.
Murphy played a video for the council featuring drone footage of the extension’s proposed path through the area, in relationship to homes. The route would have passed close to some houses and required the use of county right of way on the property of a few.
While Koch encouraged the council to think of the McClarnon Drive extension as “just a line on a map,” meaning it was not slated to be built anytime soon, Murphy said that was the wrong approach.
“These are real people; they have real homes and real families,” he said.
Homeowners cited concerns about the destruction of trees, leading to wildlife displacement, and about the safety and peace of their subdivisions being disrupted by what they feared would be heavy traffic.
Gary Sharp, who has lived in the Sherwood Hills area for more than 40 years, said he would fear for the safety of his grandchildren with a larger road running through the neighborhood, at a similar elevation to his backyard swimming pool.
“This is not going to be a road, it’s going to be a bridge,” Sharp said.
Ultimately, the city council — with the exception of Councilman Jeff Lowder — voted to approve the Thoroughfare Plan with an amendment to remove any mention of the McClarnon Drive extension. That will prevent the city from applying for any funding on that project.
As the council voted, cheers broke out from the gathered homeowners in the audience.
Lowder said he believed the McClarnon Drive extension would have ultimately been beneficial as Greenfield continues to grow.
“It would be good for the city,” Lowder said. “The concerns are very accurate. I live on Broadway. I have semis coming up and down. I know what they’re concerned about; I’m concerned about their situation also. But, just as (Koch) said, traffic is only going to get worse, and we don’t have any place to go.”
Mayor Chuck Fewell said the topic of constructing new roads in areas where people live is often a contentious one. He also said the city will maintain its right of way in the McClarnon Drive area.
“Thirty years from now, there may be all kinds of things happening. You can’t predict the future. But I know you never want to give up right of ways when you have them,” Fewell said.
Koch said there will not be substantial changes to the Thoroughfare Plan, and he doesn’t expect the removal of McClarnon Drive to cause immediate problems. In the future, however, other options may need to be explored.
“We’ve still got a long ways to go before we come to that ‘traffic apocalypse,’” he said.
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To view the full Greenfield Thoroughfare Plan, visit the Planning and Building section of the city website at greenfieldin.org. The draft version posted does not include the council’s most recent amendment.
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