CDM Smith and Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) representatives were invited to attend a recent Oregon-Davis School Board meeting to allow public comments regarding the PEL study for the ProPEL U.S. 30 and ProPEL U.S. 31 projects.
In the summer of 2022, INDOT began a two-year study to focus what U.S. 30 and U.S. 31 would like in the next 20 years based on comments from residents.
The U.S. 30 study is from the Indiana/Ohio state line to State Road 49 in Porter County, and U.S. 31 study is from West County Road 700 N. to 276th St in Hamilton County.
A PEL study, or Planning and Environmental Linkages study, combines planning, engineering and environmental reviews, considers local needs and priorities, and packs that all in to an eventual action plan to pursue reasonable alternatives.
The study will run until the fall of 2024, with several more public meetings to be held. At this point in the PEL study, officials are just looking for public commentary, such as what the public would like to see added or removed, and where the dangerous intersections are located.
When asked if U.S. 30 would be turned in to a freeway or being turned in to another I-94 and sold to another country or even just left alone, the answer was, “anything is possible.” No answer was able to be given on how much the PEL study was costing the taxpayers.
Further public meetings will be held, but comments can be made Facebook at facebook.com/PropelUS30, on Instagram at instagram.com/propelUS30_31, or on Twitter at twitter.com (PropelUS 30)
