Residents raise questions, concerns at South County Line Road Project hearing

INDIANAPOLIS — The South County Line Road Project begins next year, but residents still have questions and concerns about the project.

About 100 residents from White River Township and the southside of Indianapolis gathered Thursday night for a public hearing about the approximately $40 million project for the reconstruction of County Line Road from the Interstate 69 interchange to just before State Road 135. The meeting at Glenns Valley Elementary School in Perry Township was hosted by the Indianapolis Department of Public Works and HNTB, an infrastructure design consultant working with the city.

The project

The South County Line Road Project will add additional travel lanes in both directions and a continuous center turn lane to County Line Road. Among the goals of the project are to increase capacity and safety, along with adding a needed east-west corridor on the southside, Indianapolis officials previously said.

Safety will be improved by installing new traffic signals at Morgantown Road and Peterman Road/Railroad Road. West of Morgantown Road, crews plan to address a sight-distance issue caused by the slope of a large hill by digging into the hill to significantly reduce the slope. Retaining walls will be built on the north and south sides of the road in this area to minimize the impacts to adjacent property and steep side slopes, according to planning documents.

Further east, two new bridges will be built over Pleasant Run Creek and Buffalo Creek, along with stormwater detention areas.

On the Greenwood side, Mt. Pleasant East Street’s connection to County Line Road will be removed, turning it into a cul-de-sac in that area. On the Indianapolis side, the easternmost Morris Road connection will be removed and converted into a cul-de-sac. Further south, an extension of Mt. Pleasant South Street will connect to Bluff Road, according to planning documents.

Construction crews will also improve pedestrian mobility on both sides of County Line Road by adding a new 10-foot wide multi-use trail on the Marion County side and a new 6-foot wide sidewalk on the Johnson County side. These new paths will make it safer for bicyclists, pedestrians and those who live in the neighborhoods nearby, Indianapolis officials previously said.

In March, Indianapolis officials said they expected the project to begin by the end of this year. However, mainline construction is now set to start in 2025.

Next year, crews are expected to start clearing trees throughout the corridor ahead of the project. Utility relocation will start after that and go into 2025, the updated timeline shows.

Starting in 2025, the project will begin with the full closure of County Line Road between Morris Road and Rocky Ridge Road. By the time 2028 rolls around, the full project is expected to be completed.

Indianapolis is working with both Johnson County and the city of Greenwood for the project, and the project is funded by Indianapolis.

Residents speak out

For about 30 minutes, residents asked questions and voiced concerns about the project on Thursday. At times they became frustrated as officials were not able to respond to the questions during the meeting.

Responses are planned to be made once all comments are submitted by Dec. 15. After this, the answers will be published in a final environmental document that could be available as soon as early next year, said Christine Meador, environmental task manager for HNTB.

Among concerns expressed by residents was noise, removal of trees and the planned 10-foot-wide multi-use trail on the Marion County side of the project.

Indianapolis resident Charlene Reynolds said there is already a lot of noise from semis passing by her home. She looked forward to having something quiet with her neighbors in the coming years, but there won’t be as much quiet with the project. She also questions the need for the trail and bike lanes.

“We’ve all been there for 20-30 years,” Reynolds said “I’ve seen one or two people walk down that road a year.”

Indianapolis resident Lauren Duncan understood the safety reasons behind the project, along with having the trail in her backyard. However, the city’s taking of a large portion of her yard through an easement — and the taking of the 12 mature pine trees that serve as a sound barrier — is not.

“I do understand that they are paying us a fee for that. However, that does not cover the replacement of mature trees,” Duncan said. “That is something that needs to be considered because we now have to completely re-landscape our yards. We are losing property value, and I’m sorry $25,000 does not make up for that.”

Amy Coffman, Duncan’s neighbor in Ridge Hill Trails, asked what the city would do to replace the trees. Some of the trees are close to 30 to 40 years old, she said.

Coffman later suggested the city building fences or sound barriers for residents affected.

White River Township resident Pat McDaniel presented a different perspective. McDaniel, who is having a portion of her yard taken away for a 6-foot sidewalk, said while she understands that some people don’t want the trails or sidewalks, they are needed. Some people walk along the road and ride bikes from nearby mobile home parks to get to a nearby gas station, for example, she said.

Whenever the former White River Township Fire Department employee sees people walking in the road, she tells them to walk in her yard because she doesn’t want them to get hit.

“Yeah, I agree maybe it’s a little extreme,” she said, referring to the amount of land taken for the trails and sidewalks. “But there are walkers and there are riders.”

Near the end of the meeting, a woman in the audience asked what the speed limit of the upgraded road would be. Because officials were not able to respond during the meeting, residents began to voice their displeasure about the lack of response.

Meador reminded the audience that all of the comments had to be taken before a response could be given. This will be done through the final environmental document, which will be resubmitted to the Federal Highway Administration, she said.

“Hopefully we can resubmit it at the end of the year,” Meador said. ” And [we] hope to have it approved at the beginning of next year, sometime in January, maybe into February.”

Meador encourages residents to sign up for email updates on the project’s website, SouthCountyLineRoad.com, to be notified of when the document is released.

SHARE FEEDBACK

Residents are encouraged to share public comments about the South County Line Road Project. Comments are accepted until Dec. 15.

By email: [email protected]. Subject line should say: South County Line Road Comment

By mail: Christine Meador, South County Line Road Project, 111 Monument Circle, Suite 1200, Indianapolis, IN 46204.