By Brady Extin | The Times-Post

PENDLETON — Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) shared preliminary details about an upcoming major road project involving U.S. 36 and State Road 9 in Pendleton.
The meeting, conducted in the Pendleton Heights High School cafeteria on Thursday, June 8, featured project displays and information stations. A short presentation informed the public about what the project will consist of, and there was time for presenters to listen to thoughts and comments from the public.
The plan, laid out by INDOT, consists of adding travel lanes, turn lanes, access management and pedestrian infrastructure along both roadways. The project is being run by the Greenfield District of INDOT along with the town of Pendleton.
Other stakeholders and people INDOT has reached out to for input in the project include public residents, business owners, emergency services, and Pendleton Heights High School.
According to INDOT, the purpose of the project is to reduce travel delays, improve pedestrian and bicycle accessibility and connectivity, and improve overall safety by reducing conflict points in the area.
The project will involve construction of additional travel lanes along U.S. 36 and State Road 9 from Madison Avenue to the bridge over Fall Creek. Additional turn lanes will be added at the intersections of U.S. 36 and State Road 9 and U.S. 36 and U.S. 38.
Currently, the main line of traffic, U.S. 36 and State Road 9, consists of two 12-foot travel lanes with shoulders other than at the main intersections. State Road 38 has two 12-foot travel lanes, a lot of ditches, and not many sidewalks.
The goal of the project is to improve on those things to help limit congestion and accidents in the area.
Research by INDOT revealed that the area fell into the 99th percentile of dangerous roadways from 2017-2019, with 126 total crashes taking place.
“People are probably traveling too fast on 36, and somebody slows down to turn and gets rear-ended, or somebody is turning left and gets hit from the other direction,” said Scott Sandstrom, consultant project manager for CDM Smith, the firm working with INDOT to design the project.
To help limit accidents, the project aims to remove conflict points, which are defined as areas where two cars’ paths can intersect.
Access management using raised medians is proposed along U.S. 36, State Street and State Road 38. The medians will limit left turns other than at intersections to help limit crashes and improve the overall operations in the area.
For congestion improvement, additional through lanes will be added in each direction, and right and left turn lanes will be added at every intersection. The turn lanes will have their own signal phase, which will allow for more time for the through lanes to continue on.
“There are congestion issues, and there will continue to be more as Pendleton continues to grow,” Sandstrom said. “The goal is to add capacity.”
For pedestrian travel, sidewalks and shared-use paths are proposed along U.S. 36, State Street, State Road 38, and Hayden Way.
The paths will be lined with lighting and benches.
“Pedestrian and bicycle accessibility is definitely desirable in an area like this,” Sandstrom said. “It will be a lot of value added to the community in that matter.”
The project also proposes plans to add a HAWK signal or a pedestrian hyper beacon and crosswalk outside the high school, so students can safely cross the street. Students will be able to press a button, which will signal for traffic to stop.
“We’ve seen students come out of the school and walk straight across the street to the Wendy’s area. This will be an official crossing area for those students to cross the street,” Sandstrom said. “The goal is to be able to connect the high school with some of the recreational activities over on Water Street.”
At the meeting, a public comment station allowed residents to voice their opinions and concerns, and any other written comments may be submitted to [email protected].
According to INDOT, “All written statements submitted prior to, during, and for a period of 30 days following the meeting date, will be evaluated, considered and addressed in subsequent environmental documentation.”