Marshall County Commissioners recently heard from INDOT Representatives about a major upgrade to the US 30 corridor planned to take place over the next two decades that calls for the potential installation of J-Turns at the intersections with Queen and King Roads.
When commissioners met last Monday, a presentation was provided by the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Acting Deputy Commissioner for the LaPorte District Matt Deitchley as well as District Traffic Engineer Alan Holderread.
Holderread mentioned that as it stands, the upgrades being planned for the Queen Road and King Road intersections are anticipated to be covered with funding from fiscal year 2023, with all the money coming from state and federal sources.
In order to help inform people about why a J-Turn would be installed, he provided some preliminary information about what drivers can expect from one.
He explained, “Instead of motorists crossing fast-moving lanes to get to the opposing lanes, drivers at a J-Turn intersection turn right in the same direction of traffic, merge into the left lane, make a U-Turn in the direction they intend to travel.”
Holderread continued, “Although drivers will have to travel slightly further to get where they want to go using J-Turns, it can take the same or less time than trying to wait for a safe and appropriate gap to cross traffic.”
Holderread noted that in addition to improving safety, J-Turns allow for a more free-flowing model compared to adding in signals so it is more beneficial for commuters and the commercial industry as well.
He went on to share more about the Marshall County intersections where J-Turns are being planned, noting that officials from USI Consultants were hired to conduct a thorough study.
He said they analyzed all potential options before they arrived at this recommendation.
Photo Source: Pilot News Staff Writer James Master
Commission President Kevin Overmyer commented on the necessity of doing something at King Road.
He expressed his concerns about the current set up, “This is probably one of the worst intersections that we have because you have people coming out of the truck stop, you have people coming from 9A road, you have the stoplight […] with the stop sign. It’s just a mess.”
Overmyer asked if INDOT would be covering the cost of the reconfiguration proposed on King Road even though it’s a county road. Deitchley responded that since they’re making the modifications, INDOT will be footing the bill for everything.
Commissioner Mike Delp indicated that he felt a lot more comfortable with the proposed change after realizing the safety benefits of adding in a protected zone that allows motorists to be separated from moving traffic.
Delp noted, “Whatever we can do to provide safety for the public, I’m all for and I guess, I personally have bought into the J-Turns for these two intersections, at least at this point, unless other good information is given to me to the contrary.”
His viewpoint about improving safety in the area was echoed by the other commissioners as well.
A question was asked about how accessible a J-Turn would be to farm machinery since US 30 is regularly traveled by farmers. Holdredd noted that is also the case with the five other areas where J-Turns have been installed and explained they’re designed with additional pavement to allow for larger vehicles.
The representatives noted that they plan to bring this proposal before the Michiana Area Council for Governments (MACOG) for consideration and any amount of support would help their case.
A motion was made to support INDOT’s improvement plan at Queen Road and King Road with the potential installation of J-Turns in the future and it passed with unanimous approval.
Commissioner Delp noted that additional informational meetings and public hearings about the proposed installations will be held in the future before anything is finalized. Commissioners only provided approval for the INDOT reps to bring this information to MACOG with their support attached.
