Ind. 32 through Muncie to get bike lanes, parking, narrower
It's known as right-sizing, or a road diet, or a complete street, or a road reconfiguration
MUNCIE — The Indiana Department of Transportation will conduct a final public hearing on its plan to resurface and right-size Ind. 32 through Muncie.
Also known as a road diet, the right-size project would reduce travel lanes, add on-street parking, install bike lanes, improve existing curb ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, relocate traffic signal heads, modify pedestrian push buttons, and resurface the highway.
The state and federally funded construction work will extend nearly six miles, passing between Elm Ridge cemetery on the west end of town and the Muncie Bypass on the east side.
According to Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kyleigh Cramer, the federally required review of the project’s potential impacts on cultural resources like historic buildings/districts is nearing completion.
She also reported that preliminary design is entering the final stage; construction bids are expected to be opened in April, and work could start in the summer.
The latest public hearing on the project is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Dec. 5 at Ivy Tech Community College’s Fisher Building, 345 S. High St., when the public can comment on the newest design plans.
The historic sites along the corridor include former Mayor Rollin Bunch’s house at 400 E. Jackson St. and the nearby Carnegie Library and downtown fire station; Walnut Street downtown; the Emily Kimbrough historic district; Beech Grove Cemetery; the Otto Carmichael House at Kilgore Avenue (Ind. 32) and Adams St.; the Masonic Temple; the Eli Hoover House; the Old West End; the Boyce Block; Friends Memorial Church, and others.
At the last public hearing, 10 months ago, concerns raised included the project’s impact on downtown businesses, which have been disrupted in the past during street reconstructions.
(Officials say traffic on this project will be maintained by means of phased construction, with at least one lane of traffic kept open while the other is being constructed. The work will require the closure of parking lanes throughout the project area and sidewalk closures at select intersections. Flaggers and signage will maintain access in construction zones).
Ind. 32 is also known as Kilgore Avenue and as Jackson Street (one-way east) and Main Street (one-way west) in the city.
INDOT calls it a right-size project or road reconfiguration or a road diet because the number of lanes is being reduced from four to three in one segment and from two to one in others. The lane reductions are based on traffic counts and projections.
The benefits of the project are said to include calmer traffic; lower speeds; more people walking and biking; no lane-changing or passing after Main and Jackson are each reduced to one travel lane; reduction of rear-end and left-turn crashes after Ind. 32 entering and exiting Muncie on the west side is reduced from four travel lanes to two travel lanes and a dedicated left-turn lane; fewer travel lanes for pedestrians to cross; and a more community-focused “complete streets” environment that accommodates the needs of all road users.
Not to mention the original intent of the project, to mill/remove and replace the existing asphalt, which has become cracked, rutted and deteriorated in other ways, and to improve the curb ramps, pedestrian push buttons and traffic signals.
Sarah Everhart, an environmental specialist at American Structurepoint, the project’s Indianapaolis-based consulting engineer, wrote in one document:
“… this project began as a pavement maintenance project with updates to curb ramps to meet ADA standards. However, it was determined during review of the traffic analysis and discussions with the city of Muncie that this section of S.R. 32 would be a candidate for right‐sizing …
“In the discussions with the city of Muncie, they identified the need for bike lanes through downtown Muncie to aid the city in increasing bicyclist mobility and to connect to planned trails/bike lanes along local streets identified in the city’s prior planning documents.”
HERE IS THE LATEST SUMMARY of the project, estimated to cost $6.9 million:
From just west of Perdieu Road (near Elm Ridge cemetery) to Nichols Avenue, the existing four-lane road would be reduced to three lanes, with two 12-foot-wide travel lanes (one in each direction) and a 16-foot-wide two-way left turn lane.
FromNichols Avenue to Jackson Street, the roadway will remain consistent with existing conditions.
From the intersection with Kilgore near Parson Mortuary and Gillespie Towers, eastbound Jackson Street is reduced from two travel lanes to one lane, with an added five-to-six-foot bicycle lane, plus a buffer separating the bike lane from the travel lane, and on-street parking where feasible. Those features continue to the east side of town where Main and Jackson merge into Ind. 32 (before the bridge over White River in the vicinity of the Kitselman Trailhead).
From the point where Ind. 32 separates into Main and Jackson on the east side of town, westbound Main Street is reduced from two travel lanes to one, with an added five-to-seven-foot bike lane, a buffer separating the bike lane from the travel lane, and on-street parking, through town to the vicinity of Gillespie Towers.
Between the Muncie Bypass and where Main and Jackson merge into Ind. 32 on the east side of town, Ind. 32 remains consistent with existing conditions.
At the last public hearing, concerns/recommendations included:
“I also please plead with those who redesign bicycle lane … to please ride a bicycle as I do and explain what you have come up with when you do not actively ride .. your design is dangerous and feels like a push just to diet a road … I dislike the plan so much as you are not fixing the sidewalks only the curbs …
Why not include bike lanes on Kilgore?
I am happy that Jackson St. will be reduced to one lane and a bike lane. Hopefully this will slow people down. However, I do not understand why on-street parking is needed on the parts of Jackson and Main that are not in downtown Muncie. These parts of Jackson and Main are primarily residential and we all have plenty of parking behind our homes. Currently there is on-street parking on East Main St. and it is pretty unsightly.
More street construction downtown is like “terror” on downtown businesses, because it makes it harder for customers to get in and out of the area.
If on-street parking is not properly located, it could make or break a downtown business.