As construction on Hobart’s Amazon data center continues, the Hobart Board of Public Works unanimously approved a traffic request near the site.
All three board members were present at Wednesday’s afternoon meeting.
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According to city documents, the board approved a right-of-way permit for 61st Avenue restriping and temporary signals for data center construction traffic.
“This is a mitigation plan to basically help the traffic all along 61st Avenue as they start to move forward and more workers are going to site,” City Engineer Alex Metz said.
Amazon Web Services completed several studies, doing calculations based on how many employees and trucks would run through the site. The city sent Amazon’s study to BF&S Civil Engineers, an Indianapolis-based firm, who verified the study’s findings.
According to city documents, BF&S Traffic Department Head Troy Williard said in a letter that the firm will continue to provide Hobart with a “professional traffic engineering representative” while they “discuss potential roadway impacts and additional mitigation measures” through construction phases.
BF&S also consulted Indiana Department of Transportation engineers and advised Amazon to include the state agency in future discussions.
“We believe that this ongoing collaborative effort, and willingness to adjust traffic mitigation efforts as needed, will continue through the next phases of site planning and construction to ensure that the City of Hobart’s concerns are met and addressed in the best ways possible,” the letter said.
An intersection on Arizona Street and 61st Avenue, Metz said, had an “intersection rating of D, which is fairly low.” Improvement plans include adjusting the striping on-site to make a right turn lane for trucks and anyone entering the site.
On that same road, the middle lane will be for eastbound travel and the north side will be for westbound drivers. Two temporary traffic signals will also be at each of the construction entrances, Metz said.
Traffic changes are only temporary, he added.
“We don’t want this to be the full-time plan,” Metz said. “We don’t want everybody to drive in the center lane.”
Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun told Metz Wednesday that the plan is a step in the right direction. He also said that the city and Amazon need to prepare to adjust, modify and change course if needed.
“This is a step to show that we’re being responsive to making sure that we’re trying to limit the amount of issues that exist,” Huddlestun said. “We do know that, obviously, traffic is going to increase in that area, and we’re just trying to mitigate it as best we can. We’re lucky that … the road’s wide enough to have a center lane there, creating a turn only (lane).”