The U.S. 30 Coalition continues working on plans to upgrade the highway to freeway standards. Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Lisa Dan recently gave an update to the county commissioners.
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A vacancy on the Starke County Planning Commission has been resolved. It was reported to the county commissioners Monday that the county’s township trustees voted four-to-three to have Oregon Township Trustee Mark Allen fill the trustee’s seat. The commissioners affirmed his appointment with a unanimous vote.
Continue readingOfficials from the Indiana Department of Transportation will soon begin a Planning and Environment Linkages study aimed to improve the U.S. 30 corridor from Valparaiso to the Ohio state line.
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Upgrades to U.S. 30 and U.S. 31 remain on the governor’s radar, as he sets his goals for the coming years. Governor Eric Holcomb presented his 2021 Next Level Agenda last week, and continuing with long-term planning for the two highways made it onto his list of infrastructure goals, “Making progress on an Indy-to-South Bend ‘cruise control’ U.S. 31 and major corridor improvements on U.S. 30.”
Continue readingStarke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler asked the commissioners last week of their wishes concerning the payment of dues to the U.S. 30 Coalition.
Continue readingWhile INDOT is not showing any movement toward a U.S. 30 freeway project and has no current plans to develop it, the U.S. 30 Coalition members are attempting to lobby the Governor’s Office and the legislature to get the project moving.
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It appears that INDOT is not showing any movement toward a U.S. 30 freeway project and has no current plans to develop it.
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Starke County’s representatives in the U.S. 30 Coalition project met Wednesday night to get for statistics on traffic data.
The Starke County Council members will consider the approval of a job description for a shift supervisor for the Starke County EMS Department when they meet tonight. EMS Director Travis Clary requested support from the commissioners for the four paramedics to oversee operations while he is unable to do so. A $.25 or a $.50 increase for those assuming those duties will also be considered. The council will also determine how to fund two cardiac monitors that were deemed an emergency purchase by commissioners earlier this month. The cost is just over $42,000.
The Starke County Council members want more information about what will be offered to Starke County in the proposed U.S. 30 freeway project before they pay $10,000 toward consultation fees for coalition efforts.
Councilman Dave Pearman asked Larry Wickert from the Starke County Economic Development Foundation about the payment as it was requested. The funds would come out of the commissioner’s County Economic Development Income Tax Fund. Wickert explained that six out of the seven counties involved in the proposed U.S. 30 project pay into the coalition. La Porte County is the only county that doesn’t pay. Wickert believes that U.S. 30 would stay rural in La Porte County and not see an impact. The county has the toll road for a focus.
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation will soon be looking for a new leader. Charlie Weaver has retired, after serving as the foundation’s executive director since 2005.
Starke County is ahead of other entities in preparing for the possible upgrade of U.S. 30 to a freeway. That’s what Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners this week in his report of a recent U.S. 30 Coalition meeting in Warsaw.
“We’ve held public meetings, we have a committee in the county and we’ve done most of our traffic study work that needs to be done,” said Ritzler. “We’re way ahead of all of the other counties to do that. That meeting went well.”
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation hosted a meeting last night with various members of the Starke County community who would be impacted by the proposed U.S. 30 Freeway Project.
SCEDF Executive Director Charles Weaver began the meeting and introduced representatives from Appian , a consulting firm that is working with the foundation. President of the organization, Dennis Faulkenberg started by saying that though the project is still very far down the line, they wanted to hear some of the ideas that were circulating within the community.
Faulkenberg advised everyone present that it is imperative to collect data and come up with a concrete plan prior to approaching INDOT. He said that’s the best way to avoid being pressured into doing the most cost effective option at the expense of what is best for the community. Continue reading
As Starke County prepares to put together its wish list for the proposed upgrade of U.S. 30, one of the things it’ll be pushing for is an interchange at Hamlet. That’s what Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Charlie Weaver told the Hamlet Town Council Wednesday.
With plans in the works to upgrade U.S. 30 to freeway standards, efforts are underway locally to make sure the project would have a positive on Starke County.
U.S. 30 is likely to be upgraded to freeway standards in the next 10 years, so now’s the time for local residents to get together and offer their input. That’s what a consultant working with the statewide U.S. 30 Coalition told residents during an informational meeting Wednesday in Hamlet.
