A transcription of comments from a member of the public in attendance, voicing their opinion during Tuesday night’s public hearing. INDOT announced their plans for Pennsy Trail and updates on US 40 at the meeting. A full room of residents of the area affected showed up to listen and give their response. Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
GREENFIELD — Applause after applause filled the room when people expressed concern for U.S. 40 changes late Tuesday night at the Hancock County Annex building.
The Indiana Department of Transportation held a public hearing Tuesday night to announce and hear comments from the public about the possible future plans for U.S 40 and Pennsy Trail.
The proposed project would change U.S. 40 between Windswept Road and CR 700 West to one travel lane in either direction with a two-way left turn lane in the center from the current two travel lanes in either direction. From CR 500 West to 600 West, the roadway will remain two travel lanes in each direction.
The project area would reach approximately 8.5 miles in length along U.S. 40, from roughly 4.5 miles east of I-465 to roughly .9 miles west of Ind. 9.
According to a press release from INDOT, the reconfiguration is expected to reduce the potential for crashes and provide safe access for driveways while maintaining traffic flow. The project would also preserve U.S. 40’s service life by at least nine years.
Brittney Layton, an environmental scientist with Butler Fairman and Seufert Inc., presented a slideshow to the public that showed a breakdown of what they plan to do with this project and why they believe the project is necessary.
If approved, construction would start in the fall of 2024 to avoid construction while I-70 is still being widened.
Kyleigh Cramer, public relations director, said INDOT is currently in the conversation and design phase, and that they hold public hearings to be able to hear the comments of the community and get their feedback.
Cramer also stated that one of the main reasons INDOT is proposing the project is due to safety issues.
“This is more for safety and efficiency overall,” Cramer said. “The right-sizing is done when we see a big spike in crashes.”
According to INDOT, 96 crashes were reported between 2019 and 2021.
A majority of the community members in attendance voiced their concern that, if the new project is approved and put into place, it will create more crashes and safety problems.
One community member, Julie Robertson from Spring Lake, said she tries to not get angry but is passionate. Robertson said she thinks if U.S. 40 changes down to one lane, there will be single-file traffic, making it harder to find a break in traffic to get out of side roads. Robertson believes that they can still have a center turn lane, but need to keep the two traffic lanes on either side.
“I think it’s going to be more of a safety issue than what we have right now,” Robertson said. “It’s going to get worse as our community grows. We’re going to get more traffic.”
Many members of the community agreed, stating that they would prefer two lanes on each side, with a centerlane added.
Chris Wernimont from New Palestine said that the hearing didn’t mention anything about induced traffic on the county roads, both north and south of U.S. 40. With the new construction, he said that many people will take the county roads, and they are narrow.
“That is a huge potential safety problem,” Wernimont said. “My intuition tells me that’s actually worse of a safety problem than what they are trying to solve with this.”
The proposed project would also look to locate a section of Pennsy Trail along U.S 40 between county roads 200 West and 300 West. The 10-foot-wide multi-use path would be separated from the road by a 3-foot-wide raised median.
Multiple community members expressed concern of the trail being so close to U.S. 40, also stating that they have not seen many people using the newly constructed trail.
One community member stated that while his family are active users of the trail, they wouldn’t be in favor of bringing Pennsy Trail close to U.S. 40 due to safety concerns.
Councilman Scott Wooldridge was the only elected official that was at the public hearing, and said he was neither for or against the project, but wanted to listen to the community.
“But when you hear enough people … As an elected official you say, ‘no,’ that’s what you do,” Wooldridge said.
Leah Lederman lives in New Palestine and said she’s no expert on the topic, but has gone to Facebook to start conversations within the county.
“I try to keep people updated. I don’t know how this stuff works so I’m just asking questions, and people who know more than I do can help or point me in the right direction,” Lederman said.
Lederman also expressed her concern about U.S. 40, and if it is moved down to one lane, how it will accommodate for the traffic flow as a detour from I-70.
While many people expressed their variety of concerns, one community member was in favor of moving down to one lane and stated that slowing the traffic down is a “wonderful solution.” He also stated that the comments from others about side roads and county roads seeing more traffic are accurate, however he still supports the proposed project.
Once the comment period has ended, the draft of the environmental document will be finalized and sent to INDOT for the final consideration.
Comment period for the public to submit is open until June 28. Written comments can be mailed to Butler, Fairman, and Seufert, Inc. postmarked by June 28, or the public can submit by emailing [email protected], or by calling 317-713-4615.
