Traffic study in the works for Greencastle’s industrial corridor

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE The two current Crown Equipment Co. properties on State Road 240 in Greencastle are separated by the highway, which may soon be the subject of a traffic study as a pedestrian crosswalk is considered for the location just west of Fillmore Road.

Could a crosswalk be coming for the State Road 240-Fillmore Road intersection?

Possibly. But whether that pedestrian crosswalk might be just hashed lines on pavement like those around the courthouse or perhaps something more remains the question.

“What do you mean by a crosswalk?” Greencastle Redevelopment Commission member Gary Lemon asked after Mayor Bill Dory introduced the subject during the December Redevelopment meeting at City Hall. “A push button and a flashing light?”

“Possibly,” the mayor responded. “It’s probably not the place to put in a traffic signal.”

The issue springs from Crown Equipment Co. now operating plants on both sides of State Road 240 at Fillmore Road, expanding from its sprawling building on the south side of the highway into the old TechnoTrim manufacturing plant (later Dixie Chopper inventory overflow) on the north side of the road recently. Letting employees cross the busy highway at or near that intersection without some protection isn’t seen as an attractive proposition.

In fact, Redevelopment Commission member Gwen Morris, whose husband Thom is employed at Crown, told the commission “right now Crown won’t let their people do anything but drive across.”

Mayor Dory said that the city, in working with Crown and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) on a possible crosswalk, has found INDOT to be reluctant to pursue any change without supportive data from a traffic study.

INDOT has a history of sticking to its guns on such issues. After all, State Road 240 (Veterans Memorial Highway) went without a four-way stop at Percy Julian Drive/First Street/Zinc Mill Road from its creation until August 2010. And this spring it will finally get the stoplight that most local residents have believed was needed from the beginning with the nearby presence of the schools.

Mayor Dory said the traffic survey could also help provide data for other potential projects, such as the prospect of extending Calbert Way east to meet Fillmore Road, thus providing another east-west route through that heavily traveled area.

The timing is right as well, the mayor said, since no East Side traffic improvements have really taken place since IBM closed, other than the traffic light being installed at the Walmart Supercenter.

The commission unanimously approved a motion to have Mayor Dory bring cost figures and a contract back to consider next month before pursuing a traffic study for the industrial corridor.

Erika Gilmore chairs the Redevelopment Commission with Lemon, Morris, Lottie Barcus and Drew Brattain as voting members. All are serving one-year mayoral appointments and responded favorably when asked by Mayor Dory if they would serve again in 2018.

Next meeting of the group is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24 at City Hall.