This from the Kokomo Tribune: PERU, IN — A proposal to build a J-turn at U.S. 24 and Indiana 19 drew unanimous opposition Wednesday from residents and elected officials during a public hearing.
The meeting was hosted at Peru High School by the Indiana Department of Transportation to get input on the proposal.
INDOT said it decided to put in a J-turn, or reduced-conflict intersection, on the highway to reduce the number of accidents there. In the last 10 years, there have been 26 crashes, 34 injuries and two fatalities.
“INDOT determined that the fatalities, coupled with the frequency and potential severity of the crashes at this intersection, are unacceptable, and improvements are needed,” Jenny Bass, an INDOT senior project manager, said in a pre-recorded presentation.
She said J-turns reduce crashes by only allowing right turns onto the highway, which simplifies decisions for drivers. The presentation pointed to five other intersections where crashes drastically decreased after J-turns were installed.
The proposed project would close the median at the intersection and bar left turns from Indiana 19 onto U.S. 24. Drivers would instead turn right onto U.S. 24 into a dedicated laneand then make a U-turn.
Traffic on westbound U.S. 24 turning left onto Indiana 19 would continue past the road before using the U-turn within the median to head in the opposite direction before turning right onto Indiana 19.
There would also be no access to Lovers Lane north of U.S. 24. Lovers Lane south of the highway will be converted to a “right-in, right-out” only access point.
But county officials argued the intersection would make it more difficult, and more dangerous, for the many semi drivers who use it.
Jim Tidd, executive director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority, said Indiana 19 is the main entry point for the Peru Industrial Park, which is home to a slew of major employers.
He said he worried the intersection couldn’t handle or provide safe crossing for the large number of tractor-trailers entering and exiting the park.
“With this particular intersection, I just have to ask the question: Why?” Tidd said. “ … I’m not here to say that J-turns don’t work. I just don’t think they’re the right thing for this particular intersection with the entry way into the industrial park.”
Miami County Sheriff Tim Hunter criticized the fact that drivers on Lovers Lane who want to head west on U.S. 24 would have to drive nearly a mile east in order to make a U-turn on the highway.
He also said he didn’t think a J-turn was the best solution for the intersection, and it likely wouldn’t solve any safety issues there.
“I don’t see that we’re gaining a whole lot here,” he said. “We live in this community, and we know what kind of traffic there is in this particular area … I’m not so sure this project idea is correct for this location.”
State Rep. Ethan Manning, who represents Miami County, said a major reason he opposed the project was the fact that nearly all his constituents vehemently oppose J-turns.
“More than any other issue, whether it’s education or guns or anything else that could possibly be talked about, J-turns are the thing I hear about most,” he said. “And it’s not even close.”
Elaine Anderson, who owns a farming operation north of U.S. 24, said farmers in her area are concerned the intersection wouldn’t accommodate large farming equipment.
Brittany Justice, a Peru Community Schools board member and bus driver, said she had concerns about buses safely using the intersection. She said a traffic light there would be a better option to reduce crashes.
Lee France, who explained that he uses the intersection every day, said he usually only waits around 30 seconds to cross over U.S. 24, and he worries a J-turn could increase that wait time tenfold.
Wednesday’s hearing comes after construction started last year on a J-turn intersection on U.S. 24 in Wabash County after residents there fought to stop the installation of the intersection.
The state first proposed installing J-turns in Miami County in 2017, when INDOT announced plans to eliminate the traffic lights along U.S. 31 at the intersections of Indiana 218 North junction and Indiana 18 and install median U-turns.
That proposal drew unanimous and fierce criticism from residents, county officials and state legislators during an hourslong public hearing, which led INDOT to pull the project.
That was followed by INDOT last year again proposing to install six J-turns on U.S. 31. Officials and residents again pushed back on the project, including 14 entities signing a joint resolution opposing the J-turns.
INDOT then announced in December those plans are off the table as the state launches a new study to reevaluate how to alter the intersections to meet INDOT’s long-term goal of turning U.S. 31 into a free-flowing highway with no traffic lights.
Manning on Wednesday said the new proposal on U.S. 24 is just another example of INDOT attempting to install an intersection that residents clearly don’t want in Miami County.
“I’ve heard from people that we’re kind of getting tired of having to do this,” he said. “The people of Miami County have made it very clear on multiple occasions for several years now that we’re not really interested in J-turns here.”
