EDINBURGH — A group of more than 30 business owners, retail managers, emergency responders, government officials and traffic engineers expressed concern about what they called dangerous traffic congestion about Indiana Premium Outlets.
Many suggestions were made during a 90-minute public safety roundtable at the Hilton Garden Inn on how to alleviate current and future traffic congestion around the popular outlet mall. But logistical or financial barriers for those suggestions were also brought up.
That was no surprise to Edinburgh Town Manager Dan Cartwright, whose community is responsible for public safety within the outlet area.
“We won’t walk away today with any solutions, but maybe we will walk away with some hope,” Cartwright said before the discussion began.
The most pressing problem is that about 90% of the westbound semis and their trailers in the mall area want to turn left on to U.S. 31 and proceed to Interstate 65, the town manager said.
However, there is no traffic signal at the intersection of County Road 800N and the highway, which means drivers that cross the northbound lanes along 800N must stop in the median area and wait for the southbound lanes to clear. As a result, trailers often stick out into the northbound lanes and block traffic, he said.
To avoid that predicament, many truckers drive south from 800N along North Executive Drive through areas designed for mall shoppers, diners and hotel guests. They turn right on Market Place Drive and exit through the mall’s main entrance, which has a traffic signal that allows left-hand turns.
But that creates new problems, police said. The trucks become intermingled with already-heavy mall traffic, resulting in sight-line problems for smaller vehicles, Edinburgh Police Chief Doyne Little said.
“We’re seeing more and more crashes all the time at the intersection of Market Place and Executive drives – especially in front of the McDonald’s,” Little said.
The entrance from Horizon Drive into the mall is a problem during popular shopping days because it can back up traffic all the way to I-65, the police chief added.
In terms of public safety, Little and Edinburgh Fire Chief John Henderson say it can be extremely difficult to get first responders into the mall area if the parking lot is full.
Delays increase the chance that someone could die due to lack of medical attention, Henderson said. In addition, an accident on Interstate 65 that results in traffic being detoured on to U.S. 31 creates an extreme amount of congestion, the fire chief said.
In discussing future development, Columbus/Bartholomew County Planning Director Jeff Bergman mentioned a 130,000-square-foot expansion at Georg Utz, Inc., as well as an industrial spec building under construction.
But the biggest concern is R&L Carriers, which is scheduled to open a 105,000-square-foot cross-dock facility in the spring of 2024 that will host up to 200 semis a day, Cartwright said.
That will be in addition to the 35 trucks coming in and out daily at Peer Foods, the Old Dominion cross-dock facility that has 25 trucks making two to three trips into its facility every day and Columbus Container, which has about 25 trucks per day, Little said.
“There is also another 350 acres zoned for industrial development north of the mall that, over time, will generate additional traffic,” Bergman said.
Most who attend the roundtable discussion agreed one key solution would be a traffic signal at the junction of County Road 800N and U.S. 31.
However, that signal is currently part of a $1.2 million improvement project being developed for the entire intersection that isn’t scheduled to be installed until the end of the 2024 construction season, said traffic engineer Damon Brown, Indiana Department of Transportation Seymour District.
Sprague Hotel Developers owner and CEO Janeen Sprague asked if the project could be phased in, with the traffic light installed next spring as an emergency measure.
“If we keep doing what we’re doing now with all these added trucks, it … could become frighteningly dangerous out here,” Sprague said.
Bartholomew County commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said the county might be willing to finance some costs of putting up a traffic signal next spring, if INDOT agreed to a reimbursement a few years from now.
While Brown seemed to understand the urgency of the concerns, the traffic engineer emphasized there are some steps that just can’t be fast-tracked.
Utilities will have to be moved because there’s not enough room to put traffic light poles on the west side of the road, and there’s an additional problem with obstructing power lines, Brown said. In addition, utility studies and the acquisition of right-of-way of property must be completed before a traffic signal can go up, Brown said. By state law, these types of upgrades also require an environmental study, he said.
A suggestion to make some streets one-way was dismissed by a representative of Simon Malls, which owns the shopping facility. Another concept that would involve temporary 4-way stop signs at U.S. 31 and Road 800N was also considered insufficient in addressing the problem.
When it was proposed that the matter be turned over to the Bartholomew County Redevelopment Commission, Kleinhenz said tax abatements will leave that group with insufficient funds to take on such a project for several years.
Edinburgh Planning Director Wade Watson warned that, even after the intersection of U.S. 31 and 800N is upgraded and a signal installed, it will not solve the traffic problems of shoppers in the mall area – especially during the holiday season. That same assessment was expressed by Dave Henson of Peer Foods, who says the $1.2 million project will only help alleviate truck traffic.
But it might alleviate some congestion if a second entrance was made into the mall, Sprague Hotel Developers Director of Business Development Nicholas Sprague suggested.
While Sprague’s idea initially resulted in a number of approving nods, discussions faded when someone asked who would pay for the second entrance.
Since the area north of the mall is likely to be further developed, Kleinhenz said it might best to start planning for improvements at the intersection of U.S. 31 with County Road 900N, as well as 800N.
One idea that might be worth pursuing would be the installation of one or more urban-style roundabouts that would reduce speeds, delays and accidents for the mall shoppers, Brown said.
At the end of the roundtable, Brown said he would talk to his superiors about the possibility of speeding up the project.