Floyd commissioners hear potential projects from major road study

Makenna Hall, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

May 18—FLOYD COUNTY — Floyd County will consider a plan to alleviate traffic concerns after the commissioners at their Tuesday meeting heard details of a major thoroughfare study.

The county hired engineering consultant Strand Associates, Inc. for the study, which was done from 2015 to 2019.

From the study, Strand identified six intersections in the county that were brought forward to be considered for improvement.

Those intersections include:

—Grant Line Road and Chapel Lane

—Grant Line Road and Mel Smith Road

—Charlestown Road and Smithwood Drive

—Charlestown Road and Kamer Miller Road

—Charlestown Road and County Line Road

—Charlestown Road and Chapel Lane

Of those intersections, Grant Line Road and Chapel Lane was ranked the highest in terms of need for improvement.

Heat map analyses flagged the intersection for fatal crashes, injury crashes, lane departure crashes, run-off-the-road crashes, dark-lighting crashes and poor-surface-condition crashes.

Kyle Henderson, a Strand Associates project manager, said there are a number of options to address these concerns, some being more costly than others.

Less costly fixes would include trimming vegetation to provide better viewing access, adding warning signs or installing more lighting.

More expensive projects would be evaluating flattening a curve that blocks the view on Chapel Lane looking left and realigning North Chapel Lane to reduce the skew angle. Right now the angle is at 70 degrees, which Henderson said is outside of typical standards and that they want to get it as close to 90 degrees as possible.

The last option Henderson presented would be to add a northbound right turn lane on Grant Line Road.

The study also addressed the widening of roads in the county.

"A lot of times people have a concern about how narrow the roads are in Floyd County. The roads have been there for several years and vehicles have gotten wider, people got extended mirrors, people drive faster on county roads," said Floyd County Commissioner John Schellenberger.

Additionally, the county is now considering an alternative route to connect US-150 and Indiana 64 to provide an alternative and more direct route to alleviate traffic issues.

Henderson presented four different options for the corridor, some following existing roads and others needing all new right-of-way.

"It gives the drivers an option to get from point A to point B without crowding the morning traffic on 64," Schellenberger said.

The new route could also provide public safety options, Schellenberger said, noting that in case of an accident or traffic, it gives the county another route to direct traffic.

For the more expensive projects, Henderson said there are a couple of funding programs that the county could apply for, including the Highway Safety Improvement Program through the Indiana Department of Transportation. The INDOT program matches the county 90% for projects.

The best program Henderson recommended for the county for the larger road projects was the Safe Streets and Roads for All. The program plans to fund $1 billion worth of projects each year for five years.