Rusty Holt with engineering company WSP speaks at a meeting regarding planning for the future of U.S. 30 on Tuesday, Dec. 6, at Lincoln Elementary School in Warsaw. The event was held as part of the Indiana Department of Transportation’s ProPEL U.S. 30 study related to the highway. InkFreeNews photos by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — No official decisions have been made yet regarding the future design of U.S. 30.

That was something speakers at a meeting held on Tuesday, Dec. 6, in Warsaw emphasized during their presentation. Organizers estimated about 150 people attended the event at Lincoln Elementary School’s gym, which also allowed for public input.

Tuesday’s meeting was part of the Vision/Scoping section of the two-year ProPEL U.S. 30 study the Indiana Department of Transportation is conducting regarding the future of the highway. Speakers came from the engineering company WSP .

The meeting focus was on the eastern portion of U.S. 30 in Indiana, running east of Bourbon in Marshall County through Kosciusko, Whitley and Allen counties. Another meeting on that section was held on Monday, Dec. 5, at Sweetwater at Fort Wayne. INDOT’s ProPEL U.S. 30 is also looking at the future of the western portion of U.S. 30, with its separate ProPEL U.S. 31 study planning for that respective highway.

Speaking Tuesday were WSP’s Rusty Holt, Shane Peck and Jamie Bents. The three explained ProPEL U.S. 30’s process.

ProPEL U.S. 30 started this summer and after the current Vision/Scoping stage is expected to move into a Purpose & Need stage in spring/summer 2023 before going into an Alternatives Analysis in late 2023-early 2024. The effort should conclude in fall 2024.

After that, INDOT is projected to do an environmental review/preliminary engineering in a year or two, with final engineering/right-of-way acquisition over one to three years after the environmental review/preliminary engineering stage. That will be followed by construction over one to four years. However as was noted during a presentation slide, “timelines may vary due to funding and (the) complexity of (the) project.”

If people missed Tuesday’s meeting, they can find information from it, set to be posted on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at propelus30.com. People are also welcome to provide feedback through the website as well as sign up to get email updates.

There will also be so-called community office hours in Warsaw for the public to get more information. Some meetings were already held in October and November, with more planned for January 2023.

The public could provide input Tuesday verbally at the meeting as well as by written comments on maps of the area along U.S. 30.

Comments could be stuck on informational boards set up around the gym. Those looked at topics including highway mobility and how changes would “fit into” people’s communities.

Event attendees included community members and government officials.

One of those attending was Kosciusko County Commissioners’ President Cary Groninger. He serves with other leaders on the U.S. 30 Coalition, an advocacy group regarding planning for the highway.

“The job of the coalition is to try and make the consultants aware of the needs along the corridor of what we have,” he said. Groninger said he as a leader was particularly concerned with safety, referencing a recent incident in which a semi hit a school bus, causing numerous injuries.

“First and foremost is safety,” he said. “As just a few weeks ago, we had that tragic event with the school bus crossing U.S. 30. I mean obviously, there was an impaired driver involved with that, but still it was an at-grade crossing (one at the same level as the highway) and trying to figure out how we can not have those at-grade crossings on a road like U.S. 30 from a safety perspective is going to be key to try and prevent accidents into the future.”

Groninger also referenced economic interests, mentioning how U.S. 30 helps connect the county to South Bend, Chicago, Fort Wayne and more.

“I mean U.S. 30 is that corridor, that’s what has allowed Warsaw to become the community that it is,” he said. “You look back when U.S. 30 was originally built as a four-lane, during that initial … period after U.S. 30 was first moved off of the old Lincoln Highway, there was some explosive growth — I’m saying almost 10% in 10 years — so it shows when you have that ability for connectivity and logistics, if we want our companies to stay in our community, we’ve got to be able to provide them the transportation needs … to be able to get their goods to market or get their raw materials (where they want them to go).”

Groninger also mentioned keeping in mind cycling and pedestrian interests near U.S. 30 as the county is looking into connecting trails for recreation.

Kosciusko County Velo Cycling Club Vice President Greg Demopoulos also referenced the needs of bicyclists along U.S. 30 with InkFreeNews. He’s been involved with the local Ride + Walk Advisory Committee.

“We’re going on 10 years now with our ride, walk master plan,” he said. “The county is in the process of developing a countywide master plan for active transportation and looking at some of those things … We have an opportunity to work and collaborate with INDOT as opposed to complaining about all the issues we face.”

Demopoulos noted if U.S. 30 work allowed for trails to connect from Kosciusko to other area counties “east to west all the way across the north part of the state, that could be a groundbreaking opportunity.”

A look at the crowd before the presentation portion of the meeting started. Organizers estimated that around 150 people came out for the event.

Nick Hauck, far right, and Melissa Rone chat before the presentation while looking at one of the informational boards set up around the gym. The public could provide written comments related to U.S. 30 planning and attach them to the boards.

People check out one of the maps of the U.S. 30 area before the presentation and add comments to it.