One suggested fix resulting from Bluffton’s State Route 103 corridor safety study comes with a $10.4 million price tag.
That solution considers solving the following:
Problems
• Poor access management
• Lack of pedestrian facilities
• Need for crosswalks
• Separate bike and pedestrian facilities
• Congestion by the businesses
• Lack of turn lanes
• Poor sight distance at County Line Road
Solutions
• Create access management plan
• Share drives where possible
• Provide pedestrian crossings
• Provide sidewalks
• Provide multi-use path
• Province two-lane left turn lane
• Provide additional roads for access
• Provide street lighting
Choice One Engineering, Sydney, reported these findings in a 26-page overview of its safety study conducted last fall.
THAT STUDY IS ATTACHED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY -
The study was funded by $50,000 from Allen County Regional Planning and $15,420 from the Village of Bluffton.
The study considered points on State Route 103 from the Norfolk Southern Railroad to Pocono Drive on the east side of the interstate.
The Choice One study leaves close to $5,000 not spent. The village has asked the engineering firm to use the $5,000 to design a fundable project of SR 103.
Once that proposal comes to the village it should place the village in a more favorable position for outside funding sources.
A public meeting on Sept. 13 launched the study Over 20 persons attended that meeting.
