PETITION OPPOSING THE SR 1 –SR 48 CONNECTOR

PETITION OPPOSING THE SR 1 –SR 48 CONNECTOR
November 2004
Sign and mail to Strand Engineering, Inc. 629 Washington St. Columbus, IN 47201 Phone: 812-372-9911 or email Leslie Trobaugh at leslie.trobaugh@sieco.strand.com

We oppose the SR1- SR48 Connector project for the following reasons:

1. The second crossing of Tanners Creek is not suited to the traffic patterns of the populated areas of the county. It ends nearly 2 miles from the hospital.

2. System connectivity in the county already exists between 275, 50, 1, and 48. We have several collector roads that are being improved and widened by the county. (Pribble Road, Kaiser, and Yorkridge) Use these existing county connector alignments that are not as steep as what this connector goes through.

3. The alternative route for local and through traffic that wants to avoid US 50 is already causing a bottleneck at the 275 Belleview interchange in Greendale, where this starts.
This project could potentially increase congestion near 275 and 50 rather than decrease it. Not studying that interchange as part of the project seems very shortsighted and counterproductive. Plus it increases traffic pollution at this point.

4. This road costs almost $6 million/mile and will likely be more expensive than that before it is finished. There are better ways to spend tax money such as adding bridges across Tanners Creek and creating frontage roads along US 50.

5. This is a contrived plan. It doesn’t fulfill its stated purpose and in fact will further damage the existing road infrastructure at its two endpoints. Just because taxpayer money has been set aside doesn’t mean it should be wasted on a study that is being pushed by consultants and not the local jurisdiction.

6. The only accesses to US 50 on one end are Scenic and Wilson Creek Rd. They are already deficient and any extra traffic will be costly to the county. Wilson Creek has several road slips in constant need of repair and Scenic is not even two lanes, with a windy hill accessing Wilson Creek to US 50.

7. This plan violates the land use plan in the county and destroys the character of the land (flood plain, steep, unstable hillside, productive farm land, ancient Indian burial ground) and communities it cuts through. There are very few farm properties left in our county that are intact under original family ownership. These represent some of the most stable residents of the community.

8. This plan is so poorly researched that it has mismarked roads, missing homes, and missed large ponds. It totally neglects the costs to improve the infrastructure that actually tie it in to its stated connector goals. (I-275 and US50)