SRC Adopts Master Plan


(posted Aug 21)


Three years since the inception of the Speedway Redevelopment Commission, a master plan to redevelop the Speed Zone is just one step away from being final. The SRC's August 20 vote now goes to the town council, whose vote is needed to make the master plan official. The SRC's 4-0 vote rated an applause from an audience of about 150 at the Speedway High School Auditorium.  The audience turnout was noticeably lower than the previous commission meetings, which some blamed on the heavy rain and street flooding occurred throughout the afternoon and evening hours.

Gauging audience reaction, vacating Georgetown Road is the major dividing point between the SRC and the town's people.

Several remonstrators argued reasons why the road should remain open. Wayne Wilcox, partner of Wilcox Mobile Home Park, said eighty residents that live in the mobile home park depend on the road. "They just can't pick up and move away. Many of them are on fixed income."

Debra Wilcox indicated the difficulty to relocate mobile homes. "Parks don't want them if they are older than ten years old," she said.

She said residents are worried as to when they would have to move and she has no answer for them because she stated the SRC has not provided answers to her.

Richard Feeley of 2020 Auburn did not want to see Georgetown Road vacated for fear the additional traffic would flow onto to Auburn Street.

President Scott Harris said a local traffic sign could be displayed to prevent additional traffic from using Auburn Street.

According to Harris, based on Homeland Security information, Speedway residents do not need to worry about a crop dusting plane snuffing them out during the Indianapolis Motor Speedway event that draws in hundreds of thousands of people.

The video presentation highlighted threats of electrocution from power lines along Georgetown Road or a tornado. These were some of the "valid" reasons Harris gave to the public as to why vacating Georgetown Road is necessary.

Harris explained the scenario where a car could crash into the poles that would tumble into the fence and stands that would become charged, thus electrocuting people. Although it wasn't stated in the public, he said there is no definite plan to date whether to move the poles west or underground.

He also noted the fence is only 17 feet from the stands and it should be moved to provide greater protection from pinning people inside the track. Outbursts from the crowd could be heard stating that that problem is inside the track and is on private property.

The backdrop of the presentation highlighted a Dry Run Ditch Resolution, but nothing was said or any action taken. After the meeting, Harris noted that he had only seen the final plan that morning and wasn't sure if the ditch would be enclosed or just mitigated. The plan calls for Georgetown Road to become a walking promenade from 16th Street to 25th Street with increased visibility to the track's gates and checkered concrete approaches to help guide people to their seats.

Shane Burkhardt of American Structurepoint said that turning Georgetown Road into a park feature would add value to the community. He noted the town lacked greenspace and that using a linear park to drive people to Main Street would be important for commerce.

American Structurepoint conducted its own traffic count of Georgetown Road from March 26th to 29th as not to interfere with Spring Break. This study was done after the Regional Transportation Plan was presented by John Meyers of HNTB.

He said the study showed the count indicated that Georgetown Road is the 32nd busiest road in Speedway, and not the fourth like one comment at the July 30 meeting.

The MPO traffic count showed traffic dropping along Georgetown Road since 1996 from 12,016 to 11,061 and the number will continue to drop to about 9,320 in 2030.

Burkhardt noted that traffic would not all disperse onto Lynhurst Drive. It would probably be only about 5,000 cars of the 11,061. Some cars would use Tibbs Avenue or other connectors. Connecting Holt Road to I-65 was back on the agenda to provide additional north-south connector. Commissioner Ron Fisher explained the Indianapolis Motor Speedway owns some land east of the railroad tracks, making it easy to develop that segment of the road. It would also provide new gate access to the track from the east side.

Harris wants to be in a proactive position to protect the town from disasters instead of waiting or ignoring the signs. He guessed that government officials in Minnepolis, Minnesota are sorry for not taking heed to the reports to fix bridges that resulted in a bridge collapsed that killed at least 13 people.

The commission also passed a resolution to enter into an agreement with Citizen Thermal to perform the preliminary engineering design of the central utilities complex that would serve Allison Transmission as well as all of the Speed Zone with steam, compressed air, and maybe chilled water.

The ground breaking could happen as early as January 2008. Citizen Gas will oversee the plant operations. The SRC said the CUC would be on the tax rolls.

The SRC also passed a proposal to hire Browning Investments for a cost of less that $15,000 to evaluate properties. Harris said this is not part of the Request For Qualifications to hire a master developer to oversee the entire redevelopment process.