NEW CARLISE — Residents from LaPorte County and St. Joseph County gathered for the first step of a two-year-long study on a 13-mile stretch of Indiana 2 from Chapel Lane in South Bend to County Road 600 E. in LaPorte County.
The Indiana Department of Transportation held a community meeting Tuesday, June 16, to discuss a Planning and Environmental Linkages study, which will act as a guide for INDOT and the affected counties to address needs on Indiana 2.
“A Planning and Environmental Linkages study is looking at pretty much everything that has to do with the corridor,” said Cassandra Bajek public relations director with INDOT. “So, it’s traffic, it’s what facilities are out there right now for cars, pedestrians, cyclists.
“It’s looking at safety data, crash data, anything that we can pull, and it’s also looking at what people want.”
Most of the comments from the community centered around the speed at which people drive on Indiana 2. But some residents shared concerns over an intersection at Pine Road and Indiana 2, where, they said, it has taken them up to 11 minutes to make a left turn onto Indiana 2.
“We live in a housing development just beyond the bypass and Pine Road and it is almost impossible to get out of our housing development safely,” Michael Jaworski said. “And now it’s getting worse with new construction going on. It’s a constant flow of traffic and there have been some bad accidents right at our intersection.”
No construction planned yet
The ProPEL S.R. 2 study is not a project. It is a preliminary study of the 13-mile stretch to determine the current condition of the corridor and what the future of the road will look like. There is no anticipated construction date, nor are there any funds committed, according to Dan Prevost with Parsons, the lead consultant on the project.
Indiana 2 was chosen for a study because of recent developments along the corridor, including the Amazon data center and the General Motors and Samsung SDI battery plant, which has or soon will pause construction.
“We anticipate there is going to be more development in the future from what we have been told by both counties, that there might be more stuff coming to the area,” Bajek said. “So, with that and the increased traffic, we know that we need to look at this area to see if there’s something.”
The study is divided into a series of stages to take place over the next two years.
“We’re going to ask questions to stakeholders and the public about certain questions we want to get feedback on,” Prevost said. “We’re going to take that information back, we’re going to do some of our own data collection, and then we’re going to come back and we’re going to share that next step of information with the public and ask for feedback again.
“It’s kind of a cycle that we’re going to go through over the lifetime of this study.”
The timeline of the study began with the community meeting. The timeline is:
● Spring 2026: Study introduction and vision
● Fall 2026: Draft purpose and need
● Spring 2027: Preliminary alternatives
● Fall 2027: Alternative screening report
● Spring 2028: PEL study report
There are additional opportunities for the community to provide feedback at “community office hours,” which are informal, monthly meetings held for the community to speak with the study team.
The first two “office hours” are from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25, at the St. Joseph County Public Library Western Branch, 611 S. Lombardy Drive, South Bend, and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. CT Tuesday, June 30, at the Rolling Prairie Branch of the LaPorte County Library, 1 E. Michigan St.
Bajek told The Tribune the online comment form will be available for the entirely of the study.
Email Tribune staff writer Juliane Balog at jbalog@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: INDOT is gathering public input for a two-year study of Indiana 2
Reporting by Juliane Balog , South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Juliane Balog , South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
