August 2, 2004

In the path of progress

       Two big obstacles may be in the way of a planned extension of Interstate 69 going through Johnson County.

And both of the roadblocks are in the midst of fast-growing White River Township, where finding new land for public buildings is difficult and expensive.

West Grove Elementary School, at 5800 W. Smith Valley Road, is about a quarter-mile from the interstate’s path. The White River Fire Department headquarters at 850 S. Mullinix Road is a stone’s throw away from the proposed road.

While the well-publicized route following State Road 37 isn’t a surprise to school or fire officials, they want to make sure they are adequately compensated and that more traffic doesn’t dump onto roads near schools, causing safety hazards for students and lengthening bus routes.

“We just don’t feel comfortable having a major road that close to the elementary school,” Center Grove assistant superintendent Jerry Dunn said.

School officials don’t want excess traffic from an interchange to disrupt classes or endanger students, he said.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is taking up to three years to decide the exact route of the interstate through Johnson County and what areas will get interchanges and overpasses. Uses of land, traffic patterns and public input will be key in making final determinations, said Tim Miller, project manager for the Perry Township I-69 office.

Until the study is completed, it’s too soon to tell exactly who will be affected, INDOT spokesman Tony Felts said.

Both fire department and school officials have been aware of the interstate’s path and have started considering options.

West Grove Elementary was built in 1967. The building, on 12.5 acres, is valued at $8.7 million. A replacement for the school would cost about $12 million, Dunn said.

Land that the school district owns could accommodate a possible relocation. The only spot available for the school is on 40 acres of land behind Sugar Grove Elementary on Smith Valley Road, Dunn said.

School officials must also consider added travel time that an interchange could cause for bus routes. Driving along a busy road could hinder travel for bus drivers picking up and dropping off students, Center Grove superintendent Candace Milhon-Baer said.

Interchanges would allow drivers to enter or exit I-69. Overpasses provide access to cross the highway but offer no direct path to it.

Roads providing access to I-69 will be upgraded to fit interstate standards, Felts said. Any roads that gain an interchange could have more lanes built to accommodate more drivers.

Milhon-Baer recently met with I-69 office officials to discuss the impact of an interchange near the school. She suggested building frontage roads beside I-69 to handle local traffic. Such a road would give drivers another option to traveling a congested interstate.

INDOT data shows I-69 office workers where the most vehicles travel to get on and off State Road 37. Sites where more drivers gain access to the road will likely be the best spots to build an interchange or overpass, Miller said.

State highway workers will analyze the data to help determine where access points should be placed.

The most common interchanges are diamond-shaped and take up about 50 acres of land.

I-69 office workers say proposed sites not selected for interchanges might still become spots for overpasses.

The fire department’s $1.5 million headquarters on four acres could stand in the way of an interchange at Smith Valley Road, Miller said.

Finding a new site where the headquarters could move might be difficult.

“It will make things hard but not impossible for us,” fire department chief Michael Tibbetts said.

The department had trouble finding affordable, undeveloped land to replace a 50-year-old station on Runyon Road. After nearly two years of looking for a spot to relocate the station, land at State Road 135 and Olive Branch Road has been purchased.

Half of one remaining lot in Heron Ridge subdivision, where the station will be built, cost the department about $265,000, said Eric Brown, division chief for the fire department. If the station must relocate its Mullinix Road headquarters, fire department officials will look for land in the township’s northwest and southwest areas.

Tibbetts doesn’t want to see the station torn down to make way for the road. But population growth and the plan for the interstate make Smith Valley Road a logical site for an interchange, he said.

“There’s a bigger picture than just the fire station,” Tibbetts said.

The fire department and school corporation will be compensated by INDOT if their land must be used for the project. The land would be purchased at market value, Felts said.

Representatives from the fire station and school corporation plan to visit the I-69 office once a month for project updates.   (This article and photo reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

 

West Grove Elementary School, above, and the
White River Township Fire Department headquarters, below,
are close to the path of the planned Interstate 69 extension through Johnson County.
DAILY JOURNAL PHOTO BY ANDY COSTELLO


      

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