Starke County’s representatives in the U.S. 30 Coalition project met Wednesday night to get for statistics on traffic data.
The U.S. 30 proposal would upgrade the highway to freeway standards between Valparaiso and Fort Wayne. In that stretch, the only way to get across U.S. 30 would be with an overpass, and the only way to get on will be at an interchange.
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler said data was provided to committee members Wednesday night that included traffic counts, crashes, property owners, and overpass/interchange summaries for each intersection at U.S. 30.
“The U.S. 30 freeway project may not happen for another five to ten years, but Starke County wants to be ahead of the game a little bit and have everything ready so when INDOT does decide to begin the project they will have our input and know what Starke County wants,” said Ritzler.
The coalition members agreed that the most important thing for Starke County is a main artery to Hamlet.
“The main purpose of this freeway project for Starke County is economic development in that area and Hamlet is key to that because we have infrastructure already in place there. If that freeway inhibits access to Hamlet, Starke County Co-op, agriculture, and the industrial park there, that could be a problem. We want to impress upon INDOT, when they do start the project, that is the most important thing for us.”
Ritzler said his crews are busy gathering traffic counts and turning counts for all roads within a mile or two of U.S. 30. He added that traffic patterns change from season to season and it’s important that all of this data is collected now to ensure that a good amount of information is presented to state officials when the time comes.
The coalition members are encouraging as much public input as possible. To gather more information about the project or to voice an opinion, call the Starke County Highway Department at 574-772-3011 or the Starke County Economic Development Foundation at 574-772-5627.
