By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Some major traffic improvements to promote safety were discussed by Decatur’s board of works and safety at its January 2 meeting.
While no major changes are just round the corner, city officials are determined to begin making some improvements, major and minor, in the years ahead.
“Some are major projects and some are just signage, but we’re going to begin working on them over this year,” Mayor Dan Rickord remarked.
“We will start moving forward on some of the smaller ones (projects) at first,” he had noted earlier.
Money, of course, plays a key role on what can be accomplished and how soon. “We’re looking at funding mechanisms,” city Operations Manager Jeremy Gilbert said.
One major area of concern is S. 13th St.
At its intersection with Bollman St., major signalization improvements were completed last year in partnership with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), including new sidewalks. “And the result of that has been great,” Gilbert noted.
City officials went to move south to the 13th St. intersection with Winchester St. Extended, a heavily traveled area due to the nearby presence of Walmart.
Sidewalks are a major want as it is hoped to eventually connect the intersections of Bollman and Winchester with full sidewalks.
At present, there are some areas with sidewalks and some without on both sides of S. 13th. (See photo in which sidewalk on west side abruptly ends.)
The city’s redevelopment commission – which is deeply involved in looking for improvements in the future – has hired Miller Land Surveying of Monroe to determine what would be needed in the way of handicap ramps at the Winchester intersection “and to verify some things,” Gilbert said.
“I wanted to bring you up to speed on what we are working on,” Gilbert told the board.
“The redevelopment commission wants to take this on,” Rickord added.
The improvements are needed, the mayor noted, “because there is a high population in that area, what with all the apartments.”
“Sidewalks make your community safer and they make it more presentable,” Gilbert added.
