Roundabout to Move Forward

Last night local residents gathered at a public meeting to give input about a new roundabout project at 17th and Albany. The project is mainly being done with federal funding but also required a match of $160,000. The match, with the exception of $15,000, was paid for in 2008 and 2009.

Rob McNevin, President of the Beech Grove Redevelopment Commission, says the project has been going on since 2008."The project did not go forward for the longest time because there wasn't enough funding for the match so it sat there," McNevin says.McNevin says the money has been found and the purpose of the public meeting was to gather opinions on the project.He says there were some safety concerns with the new roundabout.

The room was packed last night at the crowd expressed their concerns with the project. One of the safety concerns was the school children walking home. The children now are walking across 4 and in some spots 5 lanes of traffic. After the roundabout is finished, they will be only walking over 2 lanes of traffic and they have a standing area in between the two which means they have to only worry about 1 lane of traffic at a time.

Another area of concern was the cost. The cost for the city was $160,000 total. This money has already been paid and if we were to deny this project to move forward we have nothing to show for that money. Also, if we were to deny the grant money, we might lose future grants for other projects. Which means the city would have to pay for the full amount instead of just a match.

Construction is expected to begin in June and will last about 90 days with 45 of those days requiring the intersection to be completely closed to traffic.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment and we will do our best to get you that info from a person directly involved.

Democrats Face Fines Today!

Indiana House Democrats stalemate stretched into its third week. Democrats fled to Illinois 14 days ago in protest of bills in the Legislature that they consider anti-education and anti-labor.
Absent Democrats will be fined beginning Monday for each day they stay away from Indianapolis.

GOP House Speaker Brian Bosma said that as of 1:30 p.m., absent Democrats will be fined $250 a day, in addition to the $155 daily expense allowance that is now being withheld. Democrats' absence is denying the House to conduct business, keeping legislation from moving through the chamber. Republicans hold a large enough majority in the Senate that if Democrats in that chamber didn't show up, business could still be conducted.

House Democrats said they want to work out compromises on some of the GOP proposals. Bosma said that Democratic amendments to education and labor proposals would be considered, but that he won't cut a backroom deal or agree to drop proposals outright to get Democrats back.
Assuming 35 Democrats continue to avoid attending, it would add up to $8,750 a day, in total. Such fines have been threatened in previous House walkouts over the years, but have been waived when the minority party returns.