To the Editor:
The U.S. 31 “improvement” project must have been designed by someone who doesn’t live in Franklin.
The plan would remove several stoplights along the highway and replace them with designated U-turn lanes periodically along the stretch of highway in the city. To get across the highway, drivers would turn right, quickly move into the left lane, make a U-turn, quickly move into the right lane, and then turn right onto the original side street.
Running from one side of the city to the other, the proposed changes would effectively cut the community in two. Crossing the highway would be difficult at worst, a nuisance at best. In some cases, motorists would need to drive an additional eight blocks and pass through two stoplights – one in each direction – just to get from the west side of U.S. 31 to the east side.
Safety is given as the primary reason for the changes. But safety for whom?
There is no doubt that the intersection of U.S. 31 and Main Street and Westview Drive is a hazard. Drivers routinely speed through yellow-to-red lights. But is a $50 million project running for several miles really the answer to making one intersection safer? Surely for less money a solution could be found.
Other benefits of the project have been touted, including improved drainage and sidewalks/trails running the length of the affected area. Again, could those goals be attained at a lower cost?
The project looks like an engineer’s dream, one that looks great on paper. It looks sexy, in a highway design kind of way. But it doesn’t take into account how real people use the highway and its intersecting streets every day. The only real beneficiaries, it would seem, are motorists driving through Franklin who wouldn’t have to stop at as many traffic lights. And who drives all the way through Franklin on U.S. 31, anyway?
Indiana needs to send the engineers back to the drawing board. They need to find a more cost-effective way to solve specific safety issues before disrupting the lives of thousands of people who must live with the consequences.
Rich Gotshall
Franklin
