Kosciusko County Commissioner Cary Groninger encouraged the public to attend the ProPEL U.S. 30 study meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lincoln Elementary School, 203 N. Lincoln St., Warsaw.
The meeting will be held in an open-house format with a stations around the room, videos and a formal presentation at 5:30 p.m.
The two-year study’s Draft Level 3 Screening Reports on U.S. 30 and U.S. 31 became available Nov. 12 at propelus30.com and propelus31.com.
The studies include 180 miles of U.S. 30 and 31, from Valparaiso to the Indiana/Ohio state line, excluding I-69 and I-469 around Fort Wayne; as well as between Hamilton County and Plymouth, excluding the Kokomo bypass. The 180 miles is divided into four distinct study areas, each with their own dedicated study team. Kosciusko County is part of the U.S. 30 East study.
Groninger said, “I would just really encourage any residents that are out there in the county (to attend). This is our opportunity. This is our chance to shape the future of U.S. 30. I appreciate people coming to the public information meeting.”
He said while people won’t have an opportunity to “come to the mic” during the meeting, representatives of the Indiana Department of Transportation’s consultant team will present the information and there will be multiple tables where the public can interact with consultants to share their thoughts and concerns about things that have been proposed.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that we’re able to speak into U.S. 30 because this is a road that highly impacts our community, not only economically but just how we move about our county. This is a big deal,” Groninger said.
The deadline for comments is Dec. 13.
“So, the Level 3 alternatives are out there on the U.S. 30 ProPEL website. You’re able to look up and look at individual intersections and look at the alternatives that they’re proposing could happen at those intersections, so I just highly encourage the public to come to the meeting and be educated on what they’re looking for,” Groninger said. “This is a study, so it’s not like projects are happening tomorrow. Chances are a lot of these are minimally five to 10 years out before these projects would even be possibly considered ... but still this is part of the study that INDOT will use when it looks to make improvements along the U.S. 30 corridor.”
Even if a person doesn’t live along U.S. 30, he said it’s still something that will highly impact the community.
Commissioner Bob Conley said he’s been to several of the meetings on U.S. 30 and they do give the public the opportunity to give their input.
If you can't make it to one of the public information meetings, the study team is hosting several community office hours sessions before the Dec. 13 comment deadline. Those events are:
• Monday, Nov. 25, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Peabody Public Library, 1160 E. Ind. 205, Columbia City.
• Tuesday, Dec. 3, 1 to 3 p.m., Pierceton Public Library, 101 W. Catholic St., Pierceton.
• Thursday, Dec. 12, noon to 2 p.m., New Haven Community Center, 7500 IN-930E, Fort Wayne.
You can submit a comment online via this link: https://pima.indot.in.gov/public/comment/project-comment-dynamic?project_id=105. Submit your Level 3 Screening Report comments by Dec. 13, 2024.