To the editor:
We at Preserve Perry (www.preserveperry.org) are a group of residents, business people and educators who are concerned about preserving what we have built in Perry Township.
We are worried about the negative impact – lost jobs and reduced property values – that we will experience if State Road 37 is chosen as the route to complete Section 6 of Interstate-69, which will connect Martinsville to Indianapolis. Everyone who lives or works in the township will be affected. Please consider these issues:
• More than 100 school buses cross State Road 37 daily. The crossroads will no longer be available for east-west traffic. The congestion and time lost for these students will be horrendous, as well as increased risks for the safety of the bus riders.
• Nearly 400 Perry Meridian High School students use these crossroads to get to and from school. They would be forced to take longer, more dangerous routes.
• Southport Road would be the main exit off I-69 and would become the main connector between the east and west sides of Perry Township. Southport Road couldn’t support the additional traffic without a major expansion and upgrades at enormous expense.
• Retail businesses that depend on State Road 37 for customer access would find their businesses severely damaged by the limited access I-69 would cause.
• Hundreds of jobs would be lost due to business closings and relocations.
• Loss of business translates to lost tax dollars for our schools and services. This would undoubtedly result in a substantial increase in taxes for residents and businesses.
• Upon completion of construction, we can anticipate massive traffic jams at the I-465/I-69 interchange.
These issues will become reality if we don’t let our voices be heard.
The Indiana Department of Transportation will hold a hearing on this matter at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30, at Perry Meridian High, 401 W. Meridian School Road. Please attend and show INDOT that we will fight this route.
Preserve Perry committee
Improvements to parks continue
To the editor:
Earlier this year we made additional improvements to the Beech Grove park system by installing storm water drains and paving the parking lot at Hartman Field.
A new water line was recently installed to serve the Little League diamonds on South Ninth Avenue, and lines are being ran to better accommodate the shelters in the Sarah T. Bolton Park. This will allow parks employees to better clean the shelters.
A new rest room has been built at the hilltop shelter at Sarah T. Bolton Park. This investment was paid for by the Redevelopment Commission. The aboveground fuel tanks at Sarah T. Bolton Park are in the process of being removed so we can minimize our risk for an environmental spill.
Security cameras – also paid for by the commission – have been installed at Bolton and Challis parks and at Hartman Field.
We will soon apply for funding for our greenway project, which will connect our park system with Main Street and all of our schools. It will become one of the city’s focal points.
Dennis B. Buckley
Mayor of Beech Grove