Plans for US 41 raise ire of southwest Indiana residents
OAKTOWN, Ind. (AP) – Dozens of southwestern Indiana residents are urging state transportation officials to reconsider their plan to make changes to a dangerous highway intersection, saying the changes would only make it more treacherous.
Angry residents filled a community center Tuesday in Oaktown to voice their opposition to the Indiana Department of Transportation’s proposal that would create two median U-turn intersections along U.S. 41, The Vincennes Sun-Commercial reported.
David Pluckebaum with Corradino LLC, the engineering firm hired by INDOT to design the proposed change, said similar changes have worked wonders elsewhere.
That didn’t persuade the angry residents, with one suggesting that the proposed changes would create a game of “bob and weave” for motorists traversing traffic going as much as 70 mph.
Former town council member Brandon Groteguth argued that INDOT didn’t address the fact that the road is curved with its northern-most lanes sitting atop a crest.
“You’re putting us at greater risk, that’s what you’re doing,” Groteguth said. “I’m sure (the median U-turn intersection) works great somewhere real flat and real long but not a crested hill with a curve. And not with farmers, coal miners, truck traffic, school buses, it just won’t work.”
Pluckebaum said there are currently more than 40 possible points of contact between motorists traveling in multiple directions. He said the changes would reduce that to 20.
“A lot of these accidents are happening because people make bad decisions,” Pluckebaum said.