State installed wheelchair ramps that have spurred safety concerns

(BROWN COUNTY DEMOCRAT) — The reconstruction of Nashville’s busiest intersection has raised concerns that the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) may have installed a pedestrian hazard.

At least one person has filed a complaint asserting that the crosswalks installed as part of a redesign of the intersection of state roads 46 and 135 — while meant to promote accessibility for disabled individuals — instead may pose a danger.

When work on the intersection was finished last year, the state highway department included in the project handicap-accessible ramps meant to provide access to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility assistance. However, the ramps connect to no sidewalks, and on either side of East State Road 46 at the intersection, the ramps end at steep drops into grassy drainage ditches alongside the road.

INDOT has declined to reply to multiple inquiries from The Democrat seeking answers to questions about the situation, but the state highway department has been in touch with the Town of Nashville about at least one complaint it has received regarding the situation.

Town Manager Sandie Jones in November told the Nashville Town Council that INDOT had asked for the council’s decision regarding installation of a sidewalk in front of the Speedway convenience store just north of the intersection. Jones told the council that she had been notified by INDOT about an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint “that somebody walked through that new intersection with a wheelchair or something and it just goes down into two holes.”

The ramps INDOT installed likewise lead to no sidewalk but a steep drop along the side of the road in front of Brown County Inn. According to Jones, the ramps apparently may have been installed based on a misunderstanding.

“INDOT said, you know, ‘We built that because the town said you guys are going to build those sidewalks,’” Jones told the council, adding that INDOT “… even told me up front there is no agreement on file between the town and INDOT that we are going to build this sidewalk.

“… They were under the impression in an informal conversation with a past council member that said, ‘if you guys build this, we can see if Speedway and we can see if Brown County Inn will put in a sidewalk,” Jones told the council.

“So INDOT created a (sidewalk ramp) without a concrete agreement (the sidewalk) was going to be finished?” Council President Andi Wilson asked.

“Right,” Jones replied.

“… I don’t see the point in moving forward … putting money into something that was never fully agreed on in the first place,” Wilson said.

On the subject of money, Jones told the council that INDOT “guesstimated” that the cost of a sidewalk in front of the Speedway location would be about $83,000 if the state built it, or perhaps less if the town or another entity paid for it.

Some town council members during the November meeting questioned how many people would use a sidewalk in the area in front of Speedway, and none spoke in favor of the town building sidewalks there. Some town officials said the estimated cost of a sidewalk in front of Speedway would consume the town’s entire budget for sidewalks for a year.

Several times in recent weeks, The Democrat contacted INDOT through its media relations office about the concerns and whether the state highway department planned to take any action in response. INDOT did not reply.

Cheryl Ferguson of Nashville is one person who said she has shared her concerns with INDOT. She said that having worked as a behavioral specialist with developmentally disabled people, she’s worried about what has been built at the intersection.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Ferguson said. “It’s a big waste of money.”

She said there already was an accessible crosswalk across Van Buren Street from in front of Hoosier Buddy Liquors to the side of the road in front of Speedway that allowed people to safely get to either side of the road.

Ferguson said she alerted INDOT about the problem after seeing for herself what she considers an accident waiting to happen.

“I’d hate for someone to get hurt,” she said.