This from the Kokomo Tribune:
PERU, IN – The Indiana Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans to install five J-turn intersections on U.S. 31 in Miami County just three year after pulling a similar proposal that received fierce pushback from legislators and residents.
INDOT confirmed last week it will install the intersections, which the state now calls median U-turns, at the intersections of 850 South, Ind. 218 South junction that goes into Bunker, Ind. 218 North junction that runs by Grissom Air Reserve Base, 100 North and Ind. 16.
Median U-turns are an alternative to traditional roadway intersections that requires traffic turning onto U.S. 31 to first travel south or north and then make a U-turn into traffic.
In 2017, INDOT announced plans to eliminate the traffic lights along U.S. 31 at the intersections of Ind. 218 North junction and Ind. 18 and install median U-turns.
That proposal drew unanimous and fierce criticism from residents, county officials and state legislators during an hours-long public hearing, which led INDOT to pull the project.
Now, three years later, county officials are calling foul after INDOT confirmed it will install five of the controversial interchanges as part of the state’s long-term plan to turn U.S. 31 into a free-flowing highway without any traffic signals.
Jim Tidd, executive director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority, said it’s difficult to believe the state is moving forward with median U-turns considering the instant, and sustained, criticism the last proposal received in 2017.Nichole Hacha-Thomas, media relations director for INDOT’s Fort Wayne district, said data shows that median U-turns work reduce the number and severity of crashes, regardless of the negative sentiment some have towards them.Hacha-Thomas said median U-turns make it easier to navigate an intersection because drivers only have to manage one direction of traffic at a time. She said the intersections would be designed to accommodate large vehicles such as semis and tractors
INDOT is installing two new full-on interchanges in Miami County at Ind. 18 and Business 31. Those projects are projected to be finished by 2023.
Tidd said local and state officials are currently formulating a plan to convince INDOT to hold off, once again, on installing median U-turns on U.S. 31 in order to develop a long-term plan to fund the construction of interchanges instead.