By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Long-standing concerns about traffic flow at the corner of Pope and Detroit streets in Warsaw have led the city to consider options to improve the situation.
Problems tend to arise as motorists try to traverse Prairie, Detroit, Pope, and Smith streets near Warsaw Cut Glass.
Traffic tends to back up during certain times of the day.
“At peak times, it’s just an inability to have free flow of traffic through that intersection. It’s just a very dangerous,” said Dustin Dillon, the director of Public Works for Warsaw. “A lot of people are using it as a cut through to avoid the traffic signals … and it’s just a highly used area.”
The city has turned to an engineering firm, which will offer some solutions at the July 1 traffic commission meeting.
Without getting into specifics, Dillon said they’re looking at a short-term solution and a more expensive long-term plan.
Conversations with the Traffic Commission on the topic have included input from representatives of Warsaw schools, which use some of those roads to access Lakeview Middle School to the east.
Now that the school district plans to combine both middle schools at Lakeview — in the next five to seven years — Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said those traffic routes become even more important.
He said they’re glad to have a seat at the table during talks and that the issues are now being addressed before the middle school transition.
“We realize that it can get to be a cluster at that intersection because of trains, a three-way intersection, and people coming from all three of those ways without it being a traditional stop,” Hoffert said.
He declined to say what the best solution might be.
“When it comes to our bus routes, we will transform to whatever way works best,” he said.
Hoffert made the comments during a taping of In The Know, the public affairs show you can hear this weekend on Kensington Digital Media radio stations.
