Warsaw City Councilman Mike Klondaris, pictured left, speaks to the Traffic Commission Wednesday, Feb. 4, about truck traffic on US 30, as Warsaw Police Department Capt. Brad Kellar, pictured right, listens. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW – Warsaw Traffic Commission discussed downtown parking, bus stops and US 30 truck traffic at their meeting Wednesday, Feb. 4.

City Planner Justin Taylor informed the board that the Common Council on Monday, Feb. 2, approved the downtown parking ordinances so there will be some changes to how parking is enforced downtown.

“We’re going to be rolling that out over the next couple months,” he said. “… I really want to reiterate that the reason for these changes was to help modernize our enforcement system. Currently, we’re using pencil and paper and we’re doing a lot of data entry so that was one of the priorities that we need to look at. Also, increasing turnover for downtown businesses and just enabling them to have more available parking for their customers. So, again, that was the main priorities.”

He said it also will enable the city to better manage the growth of the downtown as it relates to parking.

“A lot of thought went into that over the last year. A lot of meetings. A lot of stakeholders. A lot of studies over the last three to four that were really hammering the need that was driving us to look into this and make some changes,” Taylor said.

Traffic Administrator Lance Grubbs asked if there will be signs for every parking spot, will there be an area where people will log into the app and if they have to put their license plate into the app. Taylor said signs will be similar to what the city has posted now. Signs with information on the app will be posted about every quarter block. If somebody is only parking downtown for less than two hours, they don’t need to download the app, but they can. If they don’t want to use the app, there will be a four-digit number on the sign they can text and pay for parking that’s over two hours via text. Taylor said for people who park regularly downtown for an extended period of time, the app will be really beneficial.

For those who don’t want to use their phone or don’t have a cell phone, there will be kiosks where people can pay for parking. The first two hours of downtown parking is free and a person doesn’t have to start a session. The third hour is $3, and every hour after that is $1 per hour. Fines for parking violations are $25 for the first offense.

At The Bus Stop

Moving on, Kosciusko Area Bus Services (KABS) General Manager Kristin Rude attended Wednesday’s meeting to answer any questions the Traffic Commission may have regarding KABS’ deviated fixed route bus stops as the board discussed specific stops along SR 15 (Detroit Street) at their last meeting.

“KABS is really open and responsive to the community’s best interest, what’s best for the city and patrons,” she said. “So, I wanted to see if there were any other questions or follow-up. I know that stop there on 15 and Anchorage is one of our less desirable stops and we are looking at some alternatives for that, maybe moving it up along Anchorage, but right now I understand that there’s going to be some construction coming up on Anchorage, which is prohibitive for our timeline for that, so we’re kind of waiting to hear some time frames for that, and then we’ll revisit that stop.”

Warsaw Police Department Capt. Brad Kellar said his comment was the same as last month, “I just think that, if anything, if it’s going to be on 15, then it would be better to be a little north of that intersection than where it’s currently located at. It’s right at the right turn. There’s heavy flow that makes a right turn – northbound turning east.”

Rude said she thought that would be a relatively easy switch to make, and she would reach out to Warsaw Public Works Director Dustin Dillon about the signage. Warsaw Community Schools Director of Transportation Mark Fick said his biggest concern was that the stop needed to be somewhere where it was accessible without people walking alongside the road to get there. There’s also a stop at Pizza Hut where people have nowhere to stand because it’s snowed over, he said. Rude said they were working with the Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) on an ADA accessible plan, which is a requirement with these types of bus routes, but that’s long-term planning.

“In rolling out the route, this was going to be a starting point and knowing that we have work to do to get it to where we really want it to be,” Rude said.

Grubbs asked how the routes have been going and if they’ve had good ridership. The deviated fixed bus route started in September.

“Yeah. We have some regular riders, and we see some new faces, so it’s been really great, and we’re excited for the warmer weather to get back out, and people will be more willing to jump on the bus because no one likes to stand out in the cold for very long,” Rude stated.

US 30 Truck Traffic

Councilman Mike Klondaris, who doesn’t serve on the Traffic Commission, approached the board about US 30 westbound on the east side of the city coming into Warsaw.

“I noticed that there are some truck lane markers that seem to be ignored by trucks. It’s a congested area when you’re coming into town from the east, and I don’t know if you have any say-so on where those signs are placed, but it seems to me that they could be pushed east a little more to give truckers a little more time to react to get over before they get into that congested area,” he said. “And then once they are in that truck lane, I have noticed – and maybe it’s just my timing – I have noticed a little more enforcement out there.”

The signs he referred to say, “Begin: Trucks Use Right Lane.”

Klondaris said he didn’t know though if he’s ever seen a truck pulled over for using the passing lane.

“It just creates congestion and frustration, at least for me, so I just wanted to point that out,” he stated.

Kellar said the placement of the signs on US 30 is done by the state. As far as enforcement goes, he said, “I can tell you that almost, really on a daily basis, we’re enforcing that truck lane specifically out there. I have guys writing tickets, they’re writing warnings, too, depending on the circumstances.”

He said WPD Chief Scott Whitaker “has authorized us to have guys out there for overtime, so guys are coming in on their off-time – so on their day off – and they’re putting anywhere between two to four hours of enforcement out there, specifically, on US 30 – also on SR 15 – but I would say our priority number one is US 30; our priority number two is Detroit Street.”

Kellar said they’ve also asked the Indiana State Police to assist them to do the same type of enforcement. He said they constantly get complaints about semis, and they recognize it as it’s a frustration for the police as well.

“Truck traffic has always been heavy through US 30 since I’ve been around here. It is enormously worse now because of what’s happened with the toll roads. They’ve made major increases on the toll roads, so it’s forced so much more truck traffic – they don’t want to pay nothing. So then they come down and fill up US 30,” Kellar said.

In Other Business

Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins brought up the Jimmy John’s sign line of site issue on East Center Street that the commission had previously discussed. She said she had a man talk to her about that this week and his concern about the line of site there. Grubbs said he believed Dillon was going to look into that, but since Dillon was not at Wednesday’s meeting, that will have to be discussed at a future meeting.

Klondaris wanted to know if there has been any progress on the intersection of Pope and Detroit Streets, but, again, Dillon was not present so that was not discussed further.

The next Traffic Commission meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 4.