Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler asked the commissioners last week of their wishes concerning the payment of dues to the U.S. 30 Coalition.
During a June Starke County Commissioners meeting, coalition officials stated that the members are striving for safety on U.S. 30 which has experienced an increase in semi truck traffic and accidents in the past several years. While INDOT has slowed movement in moving a large plan forward, representatives there are attempting to get short-term solutions in place along the corridor until a long-term plan is prepared.
At that time, it was noted that planning for this project is still about a decade in the making, but the Coalition wants to get started. It could take up to three years to complete the environmental impact study in itself with design plans and other logistics taking about the same amount of time.
In the meantime, Ritzler said the county’s dues are up for consideration.
“They’re not billing us the full $12,000, but they’re billing $6,000 for one voting member,” said Ritzler. “There are pros and cons for that. The project may not be going forward, but it may be going forward in a much smaller version. I do think there is some importance in staying in this coalition. It has helped us negotiate with INDOT a little bit. They’re putting in the one intersection improvement at State Road 23 and U.S. 30 and us being a part of the coalition is why they came and talked to us about it. That has helped us.”
Ritzler commented that Porter County and La Porte County have not paid their dues and have remained a part of the coalition.
Starke County has been involved with the U.S. 30 Coalition since its organization in 2016 where $10,000 was initially paid toward efforts, but the commissioners decided last week not to pay the $6,000 in dues this year.
