I moved to Dewart Lake in the spring of 1989, making me a Syracuse resident since then.

My kids go to school there, we shop there, go to church there, etc.

I drive through Syracuse several times a week.

I want to go on record as saying it would be silly to put a five-lane highway partially through that town.

The Syracuse Town Council next month will make a decision on whether to do just that.

In my view, five lanes is at least two lanes too many.

This whole Ind. 13 improvement journey began more than 10 years ago.

At that time, the local chamber of commerce proposed the project.

More than four years ago, the state did a traffic study around a July 4 weekend - arguably the busiest possible time period for Syracuse traffic.

Engineers said that five lanes would be necessary to handle the level of traffic they measured during that survey.

They proposed the road be widened to five lanes from Bowser Road to just north of the railroad tracks.

When I first heard about the project, I had a pretty favorable impression of it. Generally, I like to see towns progress and plan for growth. But the more I thought about it and the impact it would have on businesses in the town, the less I liked it.

In April 1997, the town council held a couple public hearings regarding the project.

I was at those meetings.

There were probably 150 people on hand and the only people who spoke in favor of the project were the engineers.

Opposition was virtually unanimous and overwhelming.

Later, the council scaled back the project to include improvements from Chicago Street to just north of the railroad tracks.

Those improvements, which were started in 2000, are now nearly complete.

The five-lane project was brought up again, but I can't imagine that the people of Syracuse will feel any different now than they did four years ago.

One of the most poignant memories I hold from those public meetings four years ago was of a guy who questioned one of the engineers.

"Where are you from?" the guy asked the engineer.

"Indianapolis," the engineer responded.

"OK, can you explain to me why we need five lanes though Syracuse when the road to the Statehouse only has four?"

The engineer just chuckled.

But I think the question - while comparing apples to oranges - had some merit.

Frankly, you could put a 10-lane road through the village, but you know what?

North of the railroad tracks there will be two lanes. And south of the bowling alley there will be two lanes.

It just seems strange to have a five-lane highway punctuated by a couple two-lane bottlenecks.

While the twin frontage roads through the village can be a bit confusing to some drivers, it does give the village a certain ambiance.

It's kind of homey, I guess.

Lots of towns have spent lots of money for engineers to come up with plans to put green space between businesses and highways.

We have that in Syracuse and we're talking about paving it over.

Those drainage ditches, some of them with cattails poking up, are actually kind of attractive.

Now, they have to be maintained, of course. They have to drain. Standing water is not a good thing.

And residents have to keep the trash picked up. But that's something that has to happen regardless of what kind of road you have through town.

This is not to say that there is no need for improvements along that roadway.

The area that was recently improved around Chicago Street is really nice.

I think that kind of upgrade - to three lanes - would be OK. That would leave the frontage roads intact.

Perhaps a couple access points to the frontage roads could be eliminated and more green space added in those areas.

It seems the state won't pay for anything less than five lanes.

The five-lane project is expected to cost around $2.5 million, with Syracuse only kicking in $250,000.

But I don't think the compelling reason to build a road should be, "The state will give us the money."

The town council is charged with making decisions in the best interests of the town. Sometimes that's pretty easy to do.

In this case, it's a difficult decision. No matter what they decide, somebody won't like it.

There is no question that Ind. 13 through Syracuse needs some type of improvement.

The question is whether the five-lane plan is in the best interests of the town.

The five-lane plan would be the least expensive because of the state's willingness to foot a big part of the bill, but it also would destroy what I believe is part of what makes the Syracuse village unique - the green spaces and frontage roads.

Other projects would end up being more costly, but would allow the town to retain the grassy areas.

I am glad I don't have to make those decision.

But if I did, I would have to take a pass on the five-lane deal. [[In-content Ad]]