St. Joseph County police Monday started increasing traffic patrols around the Amazon and GM/Samsung battery plants that are quickly rising between South Bend and New Carlisle. Until the state can build an interchange in a couple years, the focus is largely on drivers to be more careful and patient.
“We have special overtime patrols that are out looking just to see people driving dangerously, driving aggressively, tailgating, speeding, pulling out in front of cars when they shouldn’t,” said Sgt. Jason Dziubisnki, who’s in charge of the sheriff department’s traffic division. “We’re going to be doing morning and afternoon patrols here in the next several weeks.”
Sheriff Department spokeswoman Christine O’Connor says they’re hearing complaints from people trying to drive east through the area to get to work in South Bend and other parts of Michiana in the morning. They’re waiting 10 to 15 minutes just to get onto the highway.
“But they’re competing with people who already live in the area, they’re competing with construction workers who are doing exactly the same thing, so it’s getting frustrating for drivers,” O’Connor said.
The big fix will come in a couple years when the Indiana Department of Transportation builds an interchange at State Road 2 and Larrison Road near the GM/Samsung battery plant. Until then, INDOT spokesman Adam Parkhouse says drivers may want to avoid trying to cross the highway at rush hour.
For drivers who don’t want to make left hand turns across the divided highway or try to cross it, Parkhouse says they can use the interchanges at both ends of the corridor at the U.S. 20 bypasses in South Bend and LaPorte County.
“Yeah it costs you a couple of minutes but at the end of the day we want everybody to be safe,” Parkhouse said. “We’re working hard with all our partners internal and external to create the safest environment that we can but we need everybody kind of rowing this boat in the same direction.”
Parkhouse, director of stakeholder services with INDOT’s LaPorte District, says the state plans a stakeholder meeting next week with the county, developers, and some existing businesses to review best practices for drivers hauling materials to the sites.
Parkhouse says INDOT already has added some acceleration and deceleration lanes and NO U-TURN signs, and they welcome more traffic enforcement by police.
