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After two hours of discussion Thursday, the Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission voted to send a letter to the Warsaw City Council regarding Meijer's proposal to handle the traffic flow on Parker Drive, Patterson Road, Husky Trail and U.S. 30 if their proposed new facility is approved.
The letter will state that the commission discussed Harrison Elementary School traffic and summer traffic and that Meijer's proposal is sufficient to handle the traffic needs of a new facility.
Those voting in favor of the letter were City Planner Jeff Noffsinger, Warsaw Police Department Sgt. Kip Shuter and commission members Mike Gill and Randy Thorpe. Members Jo Paczkowski and city councilman Bill Rhoades voted against the letter, and commission member and city councilwoman Trish Brown abstained. WPD Chief Steve Foster left to attend another meeting before a vote was taken.
Thorpe, who made the motion to send the letter in the first place, asked why those who voted against the letter voted as they did. "I'm not sure what their objections are," he said.
"I'm still concerned we still don't have state approval on this," Paczkowski said. She said if the state requires changes to the proposal, she wants the board to review the plan again.
She also said from the traffic study point of view she voted no because the project was put in a residential area and they are asking the residents who live around that area to "be a part of that."
Rhoades said he is against the proposal because he has concerns about semi tractor trailers entering and leaving the gas station. And, while Meijer did a good job addressing the traffic flow on the north side of U.S. 30, they didn't address traffic concerns south of U.S. 30 on Dubois and Parker streets, he said The city of Warsaw won't be able to address the traffic there as it is cost-prohibitive.
Noffsinger said Meijer wasn't asked to address the south side of U.S. 30, only the north side.
Shuter said he will draft the letter with Noffsinger's help to send to the city council. The letter will say that the traffic study as well as summer and school traffic was discussed. A breakdown will be provided on how commission members voted. A rough draft of the letter will be provided to each member for approval before it is sent on to the city council.
Previously, the Warsaw Plan Commission voted unanimously not to recommend Meijer's rezoning request. Meijer wants to rezone approximately 41 acres at 900 Husky Trail to commercial 5 for a Meijer store and gas station. Approximately 19 of those acres already are zoned commercial 3; the rest are zoned residential.
In April, the Warsaw City Council voted to table the rezoning to their May meeting to allow further study of the Meijer proposal.
Lynn Richardson, Meijer, and Ted Andrews, of Woolpert, the authors of the traffic study for Meijer, participated in the traffic commission discussion Thursday. Also attending was Meijer's attorney, Steve Snyder.
The traffic proposal will widen and increase the number of lanes on Patterson Road, Parker Street and Husky Trail. A stop sign will be placed at the intersection of those three streets and the entrance to Meijer.
Information regarding traffic flow and numbers was collected from the Indiana Department of Transportation and from Warsaw to help produce the traffic impact study.
As for school traffic, Andrews said, there would be more concern if there was a high school out there than an elementary school because there would be more vehicle traffic. With elementary schools, there is only some bus traffic, teacher and faculty traffic and some parent traffic.
He said the peak hours are between 4 and 6 p.m., when people are getting off work. By 5 p.m., he said, the school traffic is gone.
As for traffic in the summer, there may be lake traffic, but there will be no school traffic as school will not be in session.
The commission also discussed if the stop lights will have longer "green time." Shuter said "green time" is based on volume and would probably be increased for traffic on Parker Street, but that is up to INDOT.
Members of the Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission are Foster, Shuter, Paczkowski, Noffsinger, Brown, Rhoades, Gill and Thorpe. Also attending, but with no voting power, was Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins.
