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DPW has plans for intersection where car has crashed into home 3 times in 5 years

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Days after a car crashed into an Indianapolis home for the third time in five years, we’re learning the new steps the Department of Public Works is taking to make the street safer on the west side of Indianapolis. These are changes that the DPW engineering team has issued for the area around the problematic intersection: Doris Drive and Farley Drive. The hope is that some sign changes could help keep the residents here safer, since they say speeding cars is a major issue. For years there have been close calls between homeowners and passing cars. “I was almost hit by a pickup truck that came through the stop sign, went flying by me ,didn’t go out of my way,” said Jacob Koehl, who lives on Doris Drive. “I actually had to go off the road.”Farley and Doris Drive are two straight aways that form a T. There’s a three-way stop already but residents say it’s not helping. “People just flat out don’t care. It’s just a constant, they think this is a racetrack. When you hear Doris Drive that’s all people think of,” said Koehl. Gracie Koehl, 10, is afraid to play outside. “There’s just cars constantly flying by,” she said. Charlene Payne is afraid to walk her dogs, especially without much sidewalk.“You’re putting your life at risk,” she said.  Reminders sit on the street of Friday, when a car hit a home on Doris Drive for the third time in five years. The homeowners even put boulders to stop speeding cars from crushing their home. But Friday night, the car traveled so fast that it sent one of the boulders through the brick-walled home. So what can be done?  DPW had already planned to make Farley Drive and 16th Street, just a block away, a four-way stop. There will also be added posts about the stop signs on Doris and Farley and white lines to mark them.  DPW said it’s confident these will improve safety. “That will definitely slow the traffic coming down Farley Drive,” said Roberta Tandy, who lives nearby, as long as the cars stop, of course, she added.“If they’re willing to blow through the one down here where we’re at the last street, why wouldn’t they just blow through the other one a block away,” asked Jacob Koehl. It’s important to note the driver in Friday’s crash was charged with driving while intoxicated. So, these changes wouldn’t necessarily stop a drunk driver. But residents still have other ideas they’d like to see pursued to keep their neighborhood safe. Some residents said they want speed bumps put in place. There are a couple  of hurdles involved in that process.A petition must first be signed by 75 percent of homeowners affected by the change. Then DPW would consider next steps. Over the weekend there was a petition circulating.Charlene Payne has been active in the neighborhood association and said speed bumps could make it more challenging for the snow plowers to do their job.