Making left turns on U.S. 41 in St. John could get a lot safer thanks to a new proposal by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
On Thursday, INDOT held a public hearing at the St. John Town Hall to present its plans for a proposed U.S. 41 roadway widening project that includes adding a center turn lane.
About 20 residents attended the hearing and saw a design that calls for the two-way center turn lane on U.S. 41 from U.S. 231 for about 1½ miles to approximately Standard Drive, just south of 96th Place.
The project proposes to modify and widen the roadway to include a 14-foot-wide auxiliary center left-turn lane throughout the length of the project area. Exceptions will be at intersections where left turns already exist and at bridge or culvert structures.
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The current north and southbound lanes will remain as through lanes.
John LaBlonde, of Parsons, the design engineering group for the project, said there are a lot of businesses and residents that line the U.S. 41 corridor from U.S. 231 to just north of Target and drivers who want to turn left have to stop in a through lane to make that movement.
“That can cause congestion,” he said. “It is a huge potential for accidents to occur. Adding a two-way left turn lane will help alleviate both of those issues.”
Speed limits vary along the corridor, officials said. Toward U.S. 231 it increases from 35 to 55 mph. LaBlonde said they will maintain those speed differentials, carrying the 35 mph a little farther to the south as more properties are developed and more of that commercial area shifts there.
“The lower speeds will help keep things a little safer,” he said.
Federal and state funds are proposed for the construction of this project.
Residents were welcoming of the proposal, although several who spoke during the public comment period asked that the project continue a little farther north to 93rd Avenue.
“It would benefit a lot of businesses,” resident Gerald Swets said.
Another resident, Joe Hero, said the project should call for six lanes from U.S. 231 to even farther north at 85th Avenue.
“Bite the bullet,” he said. “Go six lanes and get this done with.”
INDOT confirmed on Friday that the town the town is planning a project for U.S. 41 between where its project ends and 93rd Avenue. Plans call for a center turn lane in that stretch where one doesn’t exist, with the exception in the area of the cemetery on the west side of U.S. 41, where they are installing a center median.
The town is planning on installing a traffic signal at 96th Place and U.S. 41 near where a major retail development is being planned.
The INDOT project is expected to begin in the spring of 2020.
Written comments in regard to the project may be submitted by Aug. 17 to: INDOT Public Hearings, IGCN Room N642, 100 North Senate Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. 46204.
For more about the project, visit www.in.gov/indot/2705.htm.
Rob Earnshaw is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
