History (sort of) repeating itself on Dixon Road

Posted: April 23, 2009

By Peter Adelsen

Road construction and detours are what north Dixon Road establishments have come accustomed to over the years, and this year is no different.

It's a new road construction season, and that means it's time for the next phase of the Dixon Road project. This time, the project is being paid for, in part, with federal stimulus dollars.

As construction looms, this may be deja vu all over again for area businesses. This may not be the sight they want to see, but to their dismay it could happen as early as late this year.

"I have concerns," Candy Hodge said, executive vice president of Wendy's of Kokomo. "My plea to the city is to do it as quickly as possible and do it so you have the least amount of damage. It's hard enough times already and this could make it harder."

The Kokomo and Howard County Governmental Coordinating Council, or KHCGCC, has planned construction to widen Dixon Road to four lanes between Sycamore Street and Judson Road. The stretch of road is already four lanes from Sycamore Street to Kmart and will be reconstructed to match the lane sizes of south Dixon Road. The bidding on letting is planned for June to meet requirements set by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, according to Larry Ives, president of the KHCGCC.

From what Hodge has heard about the construction, Dixon Road will have two lanes open from Sycamore to Jefferson streets. Also the Dixon Road Wendy's has an entrance that is connected to Sycamore Street via the Subway and Walgreen's parking lots. She said that signage will be posted at that entrance to those three businesses and other signs will be posted further down on Dixon Road on the best way to these businesses.

"These merchants already had to find a way to survive through the Dixon and Sycamore road construction last year," Hodge said. "This same group is going to have to do it all over again."

When the Dixon Road Wendy's relocated north of its old location last year, Wendy's officials from Ohio had a difficult time getting to the location for its grand opening because of the detours, she said.

Tom Trine, the owner of the Windmill Grill, is also not very optimistic about the planned construction. His business has had to cope with road construction in five of the seven years it has been in operation.

"We are in a weak economy, people are struggling, and now they are doing this on top of it," he said.

Trine said his business and other businesses in the area have struggled in the past with road construction.

"When stuff like this happens, people will just avoid that area by changing their driving habits," he said.

In the past road projects, Trine said he has been upset at how slow the projects were being completed.

"I want to ask them if they can go in and do a 'hyperfix' from Sycamore to Jefferson so they can focus on that and get it done in three to four weeks, instead of disrupting us for months on end," he said.

The construction could also disrupt Howard Regional Health Systems' West Campus Specialty Hospital on north Dixon Road.

The estimated cost of the project is $8.5 million, according to Doug Eytcheson, KHCGCC planner. More than $2 million of the cost will come from ARRA funds. The remaining cost will be from $5.1 million from federal funding and matching funds from Kokomo and Howard County for the project, which would be about $600,000 each.

This may be an unwelcome sight to that area as many businesses suffered financially during the construction along Sycamore and Dixon roads south of that intersection.

The good news is this time there will be meetings with businesses along the route before the construction to eliminate problems, Ives said.

Howard County commissioners Bill Thompson and Dave Trine are optimistic that this construction will not harm the businesses. The area going under construction includes Dixon Square and Northwest Plaza, where there are many ways to get into those shopping centers.

"Businesses will not be affected nearly as much this time," county Trine said. "With Dixon and Sycamore closed so long last time, it created havoc for businesses and this time we'll get an input from them."

The Indiana Department of Transportation will choose the construction contractor, Eytcheson said. When the contractor is chosen, the firm will plan the logistics of the infrastructure, he said.

Link: http://kokomoperspective.com/news/article_14c6a943-37de-569d-8067-3a473b6bc5c9.html