May 5, 2020 at 4:42 p.m.
Seeking input
INDOT again is accepting public comments on proposed Meridian Street project in Portland
Seeking input
The future of Meridian Street is online.
The proposed plan for Meridian Street (U.S. 27) in Portland is available at thecityofportland.net/indot-comment-sheet. Public feedback on the plan is being taken by mail or email until May 15.
Indiana Department of Transportation first sought input on the project at a public meeting in August. Another public session was scheduled for the project this spring, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced the city and INDOT to collect feedback online.
The plan, which details a proposed project scheduled for next year, is more or less the same from August’s open house.
Some of the parts of the proposal that received the most criticism last year involve lane reductions, reverse-angle parking and removing lights at Walnut and High streets.
The current plan calls for Meridian Street to be reduced from two through lanes in each direction to one. The alternating left-turn lane would be kept.
Though it isn’t a part of the proposal, Portland Mayor John Boggs said he would support a speed limit reduction along Meridian Street downtown in the future.
“We want our downtown to be a center of commerce,” he said. “We don’t want it to be a race track.”
The plan calls for reverse-angle parking on the east side of Meridian Street, with parallel parking on the west side.
Boggs said there will be a testing period in the future for reverse-angle parking in a parking lot downtown that residents can come to test out before it is finalized in the plan.
As for the light removal, the mayor said he is interested in hearing how Portland residents feel about it.
Meridian Street will also be milled and paved from Williamson Drive to county road 100 north.
Curb ramps south of Water Street and north of Votaw Street will also be upgraded to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and there will be improvements and repairs to the arch bridge over Salamonie River.
Boggs said he believes there is some hesitancy among the public to the proposals because many Portland residents remember when downtown was under construction during one summer in the 1990s.
Technology has improved since then, meaning parts of the street will be worked on at one time and downtown will still be accessible, Boggs said.
A comment sheet and information on where to send it is available on Portland’s website and can be downloaded at bit.ly/2VVYpj0.
The proposed plan for Meridian Street (U.S. 27) in Portland is available at thecityofportland.net/indot-comment-sheet. Public feedback on the plan is being taken by mail or email until May 15.
Indiana Department of Transportation first sought input on the project at a public meeting in August. Another public session was scheduled for the project this spring, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced the city and INDOT to collect feedback online.
The plan, which details a proposed project scheduled for next year, is more or less the same from August’s open house.
Some of the parts of the proposal that received the most criticism last year involve lane reductions, reverse-angle parking and removing lights at Walnut and High streets.
The current plan calls for Meridian Street to be reduced from two through lanes in each direction to one. The alternating left-turn lane would be kept.
Though it isn’t a part of the proposal, Portland Mayor John Boggs said he would support a speed limit reduction along Meridian Street downtown in the future.
“We want our downtown to be a center of commerce,” he said. “We don’t want it to be a race track.”
The plan calls for reverse-angle parking on the east side of Meridian Street, with parallel parking on the west side.
Boggs said there will be a testing period in the future for reverse-angle parking in a parking lot downtown that residents can come to test out before it is finalized in the plan.
As for the light removal, the mayor said he is interested in hearing how Portland residents feel about it.
Meridian Street will also be milled and paved from Williamson Drive to county road 100 north.
Curb ramps south of Water Street and north of Votaw Street will also be upgraded to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and there will be improvements and repairs to the arch bridge over Salamonie River.
Boggs said he believes there is some hesitancy among the public to the proposals because many Portland residents remember when downtown was under construction during one summer in the 1990s.
Technology has improved since then, meaning parts of the street will be worked on at one time and downtown will still be accessible, Boggs said.
A comment sheet and information on where to send it is available on Portland’s website and can be downloaded at bit.ly/2VVYpj0.
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