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No one questioned the need for a bypass around Warsaw Tuesday at the Kosciusko County commissioners meeting.
In fact, many said the county needs it and it should be a "true" bypass.
However, as at the four meetings before, remonstrators didn't like the route The Troyer Group recommended for the Western Alternative Route. The Troyer Group is the consulting firm the county hired for the corridor study.
The route The Troyer Group proposed, according to project manager Steve Benczik, begins at the intersection of Ind. 15 and CR 300S. It follows the northeast side of the overhead electricity transmission line northwest to approximately CR 100S. The proposed route then heads north parallel to CR 350W, crosses U.S. 30 at the abandoned rest stop and then briefly runs along CR 300W. It turns east along CR 400N and reconnects to Ind. 15.
Benczik recommended to the commissioners the route then proceed north from the intersection of CR 400N and Ind. 15 along the abandoned interurban railroad lines on the east side of Ind. 15. Just south of Milford, the route then could turn west and line up with CR 200W, possibly connecting with CR 17 in Elkhart County.
The commissioners did not take any action on the matter Tuesday. At their next meeting, July 13, they will announce when they will announce a decision.
After the meeting was opened up to the public for comments, Bruce Woodward, Main Street, Warsaw, said he's watched the project since day one. He's sent the county letters regarding his views on the matter. "I have yet to meet anyone opposed to a bypass in Warsaw," he said.
However, when he's talked to area residents, Woodward said, people expressed concern about the location of the bypass and its effect on businesses, safety and intersections. And the southern portion of the bypass, beginning at the connection of Ind. 15 and CR 300S, where county planners said future residential growth is expected to occur, is a "terrible place" to connect the bypass.
He said more thought and study needs to go into the bypass before any action is taken. He requested the commissioners deny the proposed route and study the southern portion of the route further.
Joe Shepherd, a CR 200S resident, said the proposed project affects a portion of his property but he's tried to look at it objectively. But the recommended route, he said, seems to have a lack of concern for the residents in the CR 300S area.
"I don't think it is a choice at all," Shepherd said. Just because that route may be the cheapest and just because it follows a line of power lines isn't a reason to choose that route. Due to the environmental, traffic, safety and noise impacts of this project, he said, it needs more study.
Warsaw needs a bypass, but, Shepherd said, "let's make it a true bypass."
One remonstrator asked what the proposed starting date of the project will be and complained that he was never notified about any of the hearings. He said he doesn't subscribe to any local newspapers.
County commissioner Ron Truex said they couldn't mail out notices to everyone because they don't know who all is involved. However, they tried to inform as many residents as possible through legal advertisements and the media. He said the commissioners continue to be surprised at everyone who reports just finding out about the project, which has been discussed and reported for the past several years.
As for a starting date, Truex said, a timetable will be set later, but it may be three to five years before it begins.
Benczik said from Tuesday, the earliest it could start is two years away as there are many steps left before bulldozers could begin rolling.
Dennis Holder, West CR 400N, said 18 homes are affected by the bypass area at the intersection of CR 400N and Ind. 15. If that is the route of the bypass, he said, he could hand out brochures from his front porch and he doesn't want that. The value of his home would drop considerably, he said.
Nick Deeter just purchased 30 acres along CR 400N from his grandfather. He said the reconnection at CR 400N and Ind. 15 seems like an afterthought after Elkhart County got involved.
"I probably can't think of a worse spot to stick a highway cloverleaf than at (CR) 400 and (Ind.) 15," said Deeter.
Jerry Deeter said, "I think someone in the county ... has to be concerned with the historical value of the property in the county." Property in the area of CR 400N and Ind. 15 is such property.
He suggested the commissioners at least re-evaluate the CR 400N and Ind. 15 connection.
While the bypass is a good idea, Tom Morehouse asked why the bypass didn't just go straight north from the abandoned rest stop up to CR 17 in Elkhart County instead of through Leesburg.
Judie Wentz, also a West CR 400N resident who lives on "another 100-year-old farm," said she spoke to an Indiana Department of Transportation engineer and was told INDOT has plans to expand Ind. 15 to four lanes from Wal-Mart north to CR 600N in the next five to six years. If the state already is looking at expanding Ind. 15, the county then should create a true bypass.
Her biggest concern is that until the county defines the area where the bypass will be, homeowners in residential areas are required to disclose to potential buyers that a highway may go through their property, so they are stuck. The bypass needs to get out from around Warsaw and then Warsaw can "grow" into it.
"It completely needs to be rethought out," Wentz said.
The idea of the bypass reconnecting at CR 400N and Ind. 15 never really was discussed, she said, until the April 1 meeting.
At the end of the meeting, Truex said the commissioners appreciate all the comments, and all the information they received on the matter will be considered before any decision is announced. They didn't hear anyone oppose the bypass, and he reminded the crowd that "it's got to go somewhere."
County commissioners are Truex, middle district; Avis Gunter, southern district; and Brad Jackson, northern district.
