It was a busy Wednesday at the Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission meeting, the first for newly appointed commissioner Lance Grubbs, who was sworn in by Mayor Joe Thallemer.
The board discussed handicap parking options along East Market Street near Fribley Field. City Planner Jeremy Skinner said the intent was to have two spaces, one just to the west of the concession area at Fribley Field, the other near the shopping plaza. Thallemer wants to see if the park board would add in handicap parking along a lane next to Fribley Field, rather than add the spots to the street. That discussion was tabled to the next meeting.
Thallemer also added that Norfolk Southern railroad and INDOT will be making improvements to the crossings along the north-south track from Pope Street to Lyon Street. The projects would include signal improvements and timing adjustments with traffic lights on Detroit Street. He said more information will be out in the coming weeks.
In other happenings at the meeting, traffic collisions in Warsaw took a small rise in 2019 from 2018.
Police Chief Scott Whitaker presented a year-in-review report Wednesday afternoon, showing there was a total of 1,088 crashes, up 47 from 2018. 222 of those crashes involved injuries and there were two fatalities involving traffic.
US 30 saw the highest number of traffic crashes with 193, followed by Detroit Street at 187 and Center Street with 172. Whitaker and City Planner Jeremy Skinner said a sharp rise in collisions along Center and Winona Avenue may have been attributed to the Market Street construction, which kept that road closed for several months.
In all, Warsaw Police took care of 4,720 traffic violations that included a warning, citation or an arrest.
