A study of State Road 135 will tell state officials what improvements may be needed to make one of the county’s busiest commuter routes safer.
Already, the state is planning to add crosswalks in certain areas, and considering an added turn lane at the intersection with Curry Road.
But local residents want more, especially after a series of serious accidents in the last two months.
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A group of residents recently began meeting to discuss what they could do about their concerns about safety along the busy highway for both drivers and pedestrians. They narrowed down a list of potential safety improvements they want, including additional sidewalks and crosswalks, streetlights, and a stoplight at the Curry Road intersection.
Now, they are trying to get local and state officials on board with approving and funding those projects, said James Pope, who has been organizing meetings with other concerned residents over the last couple of months. The goal is to continue those discussions and prompt officials to decide which projects will be pursued and who will be funding them, he said.
The group met with state and local officials this week and learned that some of the improvements they want, such as crosswalks, are on the way. But other projects, such as more sidewalks and stoplights, require state and local officials to decide who should do the work and how it should be paid for.
The Indiana Department of Transportation is currently studying the section of State Road 135 between Olive Branch Road and Curry Road, looking at possible improvements. One potential option that is being considered is adding a right turn lane on northbound State Road 135 at the Curry Road intersection, and crosswalks are planned for four intersections later this year, spokesperson Harry Maginity said.
While the state is responsible for maintaining and improving State Road 135, other projects along the side of the road, such as adding sidewalks and street lighting, aren’t likely because those fall outside the range of projects the state typically funds, he said.
If Greenwood or Johnson County wants to fund a project to extend sidewalks on State Road 135 and put up additional street lighting, the state would not object to that work, Maginity said.
Greenwood has long maintained that those improvements would be the state’s responsibility and until now were under the impression that they wouldn’t be given permission to work in the state right-of-way, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said.
If the state is willing to allow Greenwood to perform work along State Road 135, that is something the city would consider doing, Myers said.
But any project would be years away, since the city would need to find a way to fund the work, likely using state or federal grants, Myers said. And for most of State Road 135, south of Curry Road, only property on the east side of the road is within Greenwood, meaning the city would need to coordinate a project with the county for work to be done on both sides of the road, Myers said.
Because of how fast the Center Grove area and the west side of Greenwood are growing, improvements are needed to ensure the safety of the additional drivers traveling that route every day, Pope said.
Traffic on State Road 135 is increasing. In 2012, the section of State Road 135 at Curry Road had about 28,700 drivers passing through each day. That number rose to 32,100 in 2016, according to data from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
The common factor in some of the serious crashes has been that they occurred when it was dark, and improving visibility with street lights would make the road safer, Pope said. On Feb. 9, a 27-year-old man was taken to a hospital with two broken legs and a neck injury after he was hit by a car while standing in the center turn lane, waiting to cross the highway. Later that month, a 27-year-old woman was struck while also attempting to cross State Road 135. And Sarah Kish, 17, was killed in a car crash on Feb. 16 while she was on her way to school at Center Grove High School.
In the vast majority of crashes on State Road 135, the most common factor the police department notices isn’t speed or left turns, but drivers tailgating and following the vehicle in front of them too closely, Greenwood Police Department deputy chief James Ison said.
The state has heavily invested in maintaining State Road 135, with extensive resurfacing work done last summer as well as four intersections — Main Street, County Line Road, Smith Valley Road and Olive Branch Road — that will receive crosswalks later this year, Maginity said. The state also has additional resurfacing work planned to take place between Stones Crossing and Curry Road in 2022, he said.
The challenge with making safety improvements to any road is that the work often will solve one problem while creating another, Maginity said.
For, example, a stoplight at the Curry Road intersection would make turning in and out of that road safer, but because of how close that light would be to one just north of it, building another stoplight could lead to unsafe levels of traffic congestion, Maginity said.
Examining that intersection would be one aspect of the study, but it is unlikely that traffic engineers would recommend installing stoplights in that area, he said.
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Recent crashes on State Road 135 have residents concerned about the safety of drivers and pedestrians. Here’s a look at improvements that are planned and other changes that are being requested:
What’s coming this year: Crosswalks at County Line Road, Main Street, Smith Valley Road and Olive Branch Road
Additional improvements residents are requesting: More streetlights, sidewalks in areas without them, a stoplight at the Curry Road intersection
What’s being done: The Indiana Department of Transportation is in the midst of a study of State Road 135, between Olive Branch Road and Curry Road.
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