Coming into Warsaw from the north on Ind. 15 can be somewhat of a "stop-and-go" experience, particularly during morning and evening rush hours.

Three new traffic lights have been installed within a half-mile stretch of the Ind. 15-U.S. 30 interchange over the past year, with one more planned just north of the busy intersection.

"Basically, with the amount of traffic on Ind. 15, people had a lot of problems crossing it when coming off of U.S. 30," said Kim Leake, Warsaw public works superintendent. "The state came in and did some traffic counts and determined, for safety reasons, there was a need for a series of traffic signals at the interchange."

Shan Gunawardena, of the Indiana Department of Transportation, said the traffic study of the interchange was conducted between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. April 8 and 10, 1997. The traffic counts from those time periods were sufficient to warrant the installation of the traffic signals.

The traffic counts ranged from 13,719 April 8 to 12,202 April 10. The busiest hour of the day was consistently 4 to 5 p.m. for each day, ranging from 1,574 April 8 to 1,363 April 10.

Leake said another traffic signal is planned for CR 350N, with installation to be completed sometime this year.

The traffic counts for that intersection were obtained between the same hours on Dec. 8, 1996, when 13,719 cars were counted for the entire time frame. The busiest hour of that day was 3 to 4 p.m., when 1,324 automobiles passed through that intersection.

The new traffic lights only come into play during heavy traffic periods, according to Leake. They stay green for Ind. 15 traffic unless cross traffic is waiting on the exit ramps off U.S. 30.

"All the new signals are activated by trip switches, so if there is no one wanting to turn, they stay green," he said. [[In-content Ad]]