September 30, 2003

Traffic concerns residents

       Some White River Township residents are worried that a street from a nearby new business park will connect to their subdivision, creating heavy traffic around their homes.  A rezoning request for Olive Branch Park, at Olive Branch Road and State Road 135, has opened a public discussion regarding whether housing additions should be connected to each other or to businesses.  The county planning commission recommended that a road in the new Olive Branch Park, which will contain small retail stores and restaurants, connect to the neighboring Heron Ridge subdivision. The road would touch State Road 135 and Windham Drive in Heron Ridge.  But nearby residents filed a remonstrance with county officials, indicating their disagreement. They argue that drivers would cut through their neighborhood to avoid the busy intersection. The homeowners would rather keep the road cut off at the edge of their properties.  County commissioners, whose approval is an important step in the business area’s creation, are concerned about leaving that road cut off, creating a dead end called a stub.  Leaving a stub could harm fire protection, county commissioner William Walker said. Commissioner Joseph DeHart said that if a connecting road were built, traffic could increase and force the installation of speed bumps and stop signs to curb problems.  Firefighters could work around a stub, White River Township Fire Chief Michael Tibbetts said, but he would prefer that a street go through.  The road in the new business area could be connected to Heron Ridge without creating a public street, county planning director David Hirschle said. A foundation of bricks covered with grass could be laid between the streets. Fire trucks or other emergency vehicles could access the subdivision while regular traffic is discouraged, he said.  The commissioners have tabled the rezoning request until their Oct. 13 meeting so Heron Ridge residents can participate in the discussion.  Heron Ridge residents and the Olive Branch Park developer had reached an agreement not to create a public road, Walker said. Passing the rezoning plans through the commissioners’ jurisdiction with a connecting road wouldn’t be fair to those residents, he said.  (reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

     

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