EDINBURGH — A public safety roundtable to discuss growing safety concerns about the intersection of U.S. 31 and County Road 800N is planned Thursday in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Town Manager Dan Cartwright organized the event, scheduled at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Hilton Garden Inn, 12210 N. Executive Drive.
Representatives from Simon Malls, the town of Edinburgh, Bartholomew County government and the Indiana Department of Transportation are expected to attend, Cartwright said. In addition, the office of State Rep. John Young, R-Franklin, has confirmed he will attend. Young’s District 47 include a good part of Edinburgh, as well as much of both Johnson and Morgan counties.
The danger centers around the lack of a stoplight at the intersection of U.S. 31 and Bartholomew County Road 800N, Cartwright said.
There’s no problem if a westbound semi on Road 800N wants to turn right onto the highway, according to Cartwright. But if the westbound truck and trailer needs to head south at the same intersection to get to Interstate 65, that’s a different story, he said.
The lack of a traffic signal prompts many truck drivers to pull across the northbound lanes and wait in the median area for southbound traffic to clear. As a result, the trailers often block northbound traffic on U.S. 31.
In order to avoid that problem, many truckers will drive south through the mall area to Market Place Drive, where there is a traffic signal. However, that’s the same entrance used by the mall, as well as a number of hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
“We’re adding as many as 200 additional trucks with a new development,” Cartwright said. “It’s going to make traffic a whole lot more congested in an already heavily-traveled area.”
For the complete story, see Thursday’s Republic.
