The Bremen Town Council members received an update on a project put in place two weeks ago by the Hometown Collaboration Initiative members.
In order to gather opinions on a future downtown project slated for 2020, the members of the HCI organization transformed the downtown area to get an idea of what the public thinks about the proposed changes before the project commences.
To give the residents a preview, bumpouts were installed which narrowed the street and parking was modified. This allowed for more room for downtown merchants to put out tables and chairs and merchandise.
Chris Waidner told council members that some changes were made to the initial setup.
“We just recently adjusted the bumpers and pushed them back four more feet so now they’re only four feet out in the road,” said Waidner. “The plan is now to redo the pavement markings and change it from a two-lane section to a three-lane section. There will be a ten-foot turn lane in each direction and 11-foot through lanes for that new temporary design.”
The traffic counts and speeds were compromised as the counters were damaged. MACOG was working to get the counters set so that data could be collected.
Overall, the comments have been positive. One resident, Rich Kendle, commented that there were several near-accidents and was concerned about safety with the changes. The narrow lanes were also a concern.
Town Attorney Anthony Wagner said that all feedback is encouraged and will be taken into consideration as the project continues in its test phase.
The overall plan is to lower the streets eight to ten inches and resurface State Road 106 from Montgomery Street to Washington Street in 2020. INDOT will provide funding for that part of the project that is estimated around $1.3 million. The Town of Bremen will replace the curbs and sidewalks and new lighting will be installed downtown.
