Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission Wednesday heard updates on the Market Street project and upgrades to U.S. 30.
James Emmans, city engineer, said the majority of the work on Bronson and Colfax streets is completed, and the plan is to have limited traffic until the project is completed.
The street department has put out temporary stop signs for north and south traffic. The majority of the work will be east of Lincoln Street now.
Kip Shuter, traffic commission administrator, said the city has talked to Indiana Department of Transportation about increasing time for the light at Parker Street and U.S. 30 to allow traffic to get through the intersection. He said Eric Miller, INDOT district engineer, will look at adding additional time at the stop lights on U.S. 30 from 80 seconds to 100 seconds and plans are to evaluate intersections on U.S. 30.
Jeremy Skinner, city planner, said the city needs to meet with INDOT to make sure the stop light signalization at Parker Street and U.S. 30 is long enough.
“If they don’t give significant time to Parker Street, it will not fix anything and that is what needs to be done,” Skinner said. “It would be nice to sit down before they make the changes to see if they will be effective.”
Skinner said the reality is nothing will change unless INDOT gives more time for the signalization at Parker Street and U.S. 30.
“At this time there is just too much traffic, and until they get another 20 or 30 seconds it’s not going to clear the traffic,” he said.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer suggested inviting Miller to Warsaw to show him the intersection.
Also during the meeting, Shuter said he received a complaint from a woman about cars that exit Culvers and can’t go across the divided meeting to return to U.S. 30 so they go to the Husky Trail and Parker Street intersection and do a U-turn.
The unidentified woman said she felt it is dangerous when traffic is already backed up. Shuter said it is not illegal to make a U-turn at the intersection, but the city will talk to Culver’s about signage to guide drivers back to U.S. 30.
Shuter said Anchorage Point Street needs to have stop signs by Goodwill at the T-intersection.
Shuter also said he received a letter from Dana Hewitt, parking control officer, who said over the past few months he has been approached by people requesting that the city make available more unlimited parking spaces.
Hewitt said there are currently 74 reserved parking spaces designated in the city lot, and to date only 40 of those spaces have been rented for the past six months. He said if the last two rows on the reserved side were made not-limited spaces, this would provide another 24 spaces.
The city will discuss opening up not limited and unused reserved parking spaces and making them unlimited parking spaces.
Mike Klondaris, traffic commission member, said he had concerns with traffic turning on red and yellow lights on Detroit and Market streets, and Detroit and Winona Avenue, and through traffic not being able to get through.
Klondaris also suggested limbs to be trimmed in town at stop signs.
Thallemer updated the commission and said he has been in contact with Carl Sowers, Young Tigers Football, who had expressed concern with traffic safety on Market Street during football games at Fribley Field. Sowers has been invited to attend the commission meeting to discuss his concerns.
(Story By The Times Union)
