Residents vent frustration over U.S. 231 route process

By Joe Thomas, Journal and Courier

Wabash Township residents still want a new U.S. 231 bypass to go farther west than engineers recommend.

CHECKING THE ROUTE: Barbara Skinner and John Patterson listen Thursday to a consultant for the Indiana Department of Transportation as they look over a map of the proposed U.S. 231 corridor. (Photo by Frank Oliver, Journal and Courier)

They used a public hearing at Klondike Elementary School on Thursday night to tell Indiana Department of Transportation officials they suspect state and local leaders put in the fix when it came time to selecting a proposed corridor.

"This really is a very closed process," said Blackbird Farm resident Carl Snow. "It has the appearance of being open, but really, it's very closed. When the CAC (Community Advisory Council) asked how the data was analyzed, they were told it was too complicated for them. This gives the appearance of a closed system."

The recommended route runs from near Horticulture Park to Sherwood Forest subdivision's east side and then follows McCormick Road to U.S. 52.

Greg Rose said he bought his west side home in 1997 and will lose it if the road goes along the recommended corridor. But he suspects some numbers games make the recommended route look good.

"I just graduated with an MBA from Purdue in August, and I can tell you these numbers can be pushed one way or another. There is no statistical difference between some of these routes," he said.

Rose referred to a matrix showing environmental impacts caused by different alternates, including the new route recommended by Michael Baker Jr., Inc. engineers within the past month.

Wendy Vachet, Baker's project manager, said the recommended corridor has the least impact on Wabash Township.

"The first thing we try to do when we draw them up is avoid the big things: the subdivisions, the wetlands, the Celery Bog," she said.

Julie Killion challenged that point.

"Route 7 (the recommended corridor) may have the least impact, unless it's going to go right through your yard, or by your neighbor's house," she said.

Mark Albers, Tippecanoe County's highway superintendent, defended the recommended route.

"We are a community that is growing, and we are growing fast. This is an area that has the largest employment base in the area in Purdue, and we don't have good access to that employment base from the west," he said.

Others suspect Purdue officials have driven the process behind the scenes.

"Purdue is the big winner here," said John Rutledge, a Wabash Township resident.

"They tell us it can't go further west because it will promote urban sprawl," he said, drawing some giggles. "I think that person needs to go out and take a look at what has happened between McCormick and Klondike Road in the past year, and I don't think there is any road there that contributed to that sprawl."

John Harvor said a further western route will allow sprawl only if land use plans allow it.

"We have planning, but we don't have a plan. Why should we suffer because the rest of the community does not have a plan?" he said.

But Ted Brust, Christian Life Center's pastor, brought a more resigned position to the hearing. The new corridor will eliminate his church.

"If this is the chosen route, we, who are going to be relocated by it, need to know as soon as possible so we can get on with our lives."