By KEVIN NEVERS

It’s taken less than a week for the property owners in or near the South Calumet Triangle to organize a full-blown lobbying effort against the proposed closure of the intersection of South Calumet Road and C.R. 1100N, one of a constellation of traffic fixes which the Chesterton Redevelopment Commission endorsed at its Aug. 29 meeting.

A petition is already being circulated and a group—Chesterton Landowners United for Excellence (CLUE)—has already formed.

Now the only thing needed by those property owners is an opportunity to give the Town Council—three of whose members serve on the Redevelopment Commission—a piece of their mind in person.

That opportunity will come for the first time during the public comment portion of the council’s next meeting, at 7 p.m. Monday.

As it happens, CLUE is well ahead of the curve and has issued a flyer encouraging the public to attend that meeting. “(L)isten for answers to the following questions,” that flyer reads:

“(1) What are the valid traffic issues?

“(2) Have the safety concerns of South Calumet been separated from the safety issues of the 49 Bypass/C.R. 1100 N intersection (the proposed changes will do nothing to improve the Bypass traffic/safety issues)?

“(3) Will the semi-trucks, which make daily deliveries to businesses along South Calumet, be able to navigate the turns and access roads safely?

“(4) How will increased traffic on C.R. 100E be accommodated?

“(5) Have impacts on school bus safety and operation been considered?

“(6) Were the property owners who work near and commute daily through the intersection of South Calumet/C.R. 1100N interviewed for valuable insight?

“(7) Are there other solutions to the problem that have not been explored?

”(8) Could an alternative proposal provide acceptable results, with a significant cost reduction over the proposed plan? The cost savings could be used to address other pressing problems in Chesterton.”

Meanwhile, at least two businesses on South Calumet Road—CVS Pharmacy and ‘Round the Clock—are circulating a petition. The closure of South Calumet Road and C.R. 1100N, that petition reads in part, “will seriously impact the South Calumet Road area financially and create hardships for patrons. This area supports over 20 stores and shops that employ over 200 people that need your help. If you agree that this is a waste of millions of your tax dollars and that it has the potential to blight this area, please sign the petition.”

As of Thursday morning, a ‘Round the Clock employee told the Chesterton Tribune, more than 1,100 people had signed the petition.

The traffic fixes endorsed by the Redevelopment Commission are part of a comprehensive improvement and beautification project intended to make that area of Chesterton an attractive and efficient gateway to the Downtown. Streetscaping and drainage are also part of that project.

The general idea of the Redevelopment Commission is to turn the South Calumet Triangle into the South Calumet Trapezoid: its western base C.R. 100E between Beverly Drive and C.R. 1100N; its eastern base South Calumet Road, which at its extreme southern terminus would turn west into the First National Bank of Valparaiso; its southern base a new east/west connector road linking C.R. 100E and South Calumet Road and aligned with the ‘Round the Clock driveway; and its northern base a second east/west connector road linking C.R. 100E and South Calumet Road and aligned with Beverly Drive.

Among other things, the intersection of C.R. 100E and C.R. 1100N would be improved and signalized; a third lane would be added to C.R. 100E between Venturi Drive and C.R. 1100N; a number of private driveways on South Calumet Road would be closed and access to the businesses there consolidated; and access to and from St. Paul Lutheran Church on C.R. 1100N would become right-in/right-out only, with a pledge from the Redevelopment Commission to help the church construct a new driveway accessible from C.R. 100E.

Posted 9/8/2006