Commissioners Accept U.S. 30 & U.S. 31 Planning Study for Presentation to INDOT

Monday morning the Marshall County Commissioners accepted the latest draft of the U.S. 30 and U.S. 31 study in response to the ProPEL. 

The presentation that County Plan Director Ty Adley gave is 45 pages long and details the 10 intersections on U.S. 31 from U.S. 30 to State Road 10 and 20 intersections on U.S. 30 from the east county line to the west county line.

A committee for both highway projects was created and included 30 organizations with 58 representatives. The committees looked at each intersection and made recommendations of some type of interchange with full access including both on and off-access as well as a crossover.  They considered bridges that would only allow access across the highway and cul-de-sacks which would have no access to the highways.  Committee members also prioritized their top five projects on both U.S. 30 and U.S. 31.

The top five projects on U.S. 30 are Fir Road, 9A/King Road, West Plymouth and Union Roads with interchanges, and Oak Drive with a bridge.  The top five projects on U.S. 30 were defined as 13^th/Michigan Road, Lincoln Highway, 9A/Jefferson Road, 11^th Road, and 12B Road.   

During the commissioner’s meeting, County Commissioner Mike Burroughs had one comment for the public, “What we are discussing here is our suggestion to INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation).  It is not INDOT-approved intersections, bridges, or cul-de-sacks. INDOT ultimately will take this under advisement, we hope.  This is our best guess of what would benefit Marshall County the most with access through bridges, interchanges, and cul-de-sacks.  Rather than waiting for INDOT to tell us what is happening in our county, it is beneficial for us to be proactive rather than reactive.”     

Adley and members of the committees will be returning to the Commissioner’s meeting on February 20^th.  They will make the same presentation at about 9:30 a.m. to the engineering company and representative from INDOT.  The public can attend the meeting in person or watch virtually by going to the county’s website at www.co.marshall.in.us.