City orders traffic study for busy school intersection

Friday, March 21, 2008

Greencastle officials have decided to take matters in their own hands to deal with traffic concerns at one busy intersection.

After requests to install a stoplight at the intersection of Veterans' Memorial Highway and First Street (next to Greencastle Middle School) were denied by the state highway department, city leaders decided to pay for their own traffic study and hopefully prove that a signal is indeed warranted at that spot.

The Greencastle Redevelopment Commission recently chipped in the money needed to pay for the study by Bernard and Loughmiller. The traffic data -- or phase one of the project -- has already been collected, but City Planner Shannon Norman is providing additional information that will help the company generate its final report.

She is hopeful the numbers will show the intersection needs a stoplight.

"Hopefully doing this will put us in a place to make our argument with INDOT," Norman said.

She said the concern is not only for current traffic at the intersection but for predicted growth as well.

Ivy Tech officials are planning to start building their new campus on the southeast side of the intersection in April, which will undoubtedly bring more cars to the area on a daily basis.

Norman told the Greencastle Board of Works, this week, that construction of Ivy Tech's new campus is scheduled to start April 21.

The civil engineering and site work is set to go out to bid March 25, Norman said, to be followed by final bid packets on May 20.

The April 21 construction date is actually sooner than some officials had anticipated.

"It looks like we're going to start even before we had imagined," Norman said.

One thing that won't start, unless the state highway says it can, is the installation of any stoplight. City officials support it, but since Veterans Highway is a state-maintained road, it's not the city's decision.

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  • While we are on the subject of traffic issues around the Middle/High School in Greencastle, I feel the need to express my concern about the 4 way stop next to the high school. In the mornings, traffic is lined up from the 4 way stop sign out onto Indianapolis road and on Washington street from the 4 way stop sign traffic is lined up past the tennis courts! Has any thought been put into a traffic light at this intersection!! Plus, has anyone noticed all the traffic at the Middle school during pick up after school?? Today, a half day, the traffic was lined up in the Middle school parking lot and continued out on Percy Julian Drive past the entrance to the bus transfer parking lot.

    -- Posted by GreencastleResident on Fri, Mar 21, 2008, at 11:57 AM
  • I saw the line of cars at GMS, too. It worked much better years ago when the city police were there to direct traffic. In one way, it was a waste of GPD manpower, but many of today's drivers can't follow the traffic pattern request sent home repeatedly by the schools.

    -- Posted by Sour Grapes on Fri, Mar 21, 2008, at 8:32 PM
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