Fort Wayne City Council talks transportation then tables discussion

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne City Council members had planned to talk about a new process for getting road projects completed during Tuesday's meeting. The process would include more community input, but instead, council members voted to postpone the discussion for two weeks.  

"Many, many residents were here tonight to speak about this project," said Sara Kruger, a member of the Forest Park Boulevard Neighborhood Association.

The transportation resolution that was brought up will re-do the process of implementing new projects by using a Context Sensitive Solution approach. The goal is to increase community participation and make the process more collaborative with the public.

"I'd like to see people who are affected, the so-called stakeholders, approached and brought in to the process early, at the time that an idea is first germinated," said John Shoaff, councilman at-large.

One of the projects in debate is the four year ongoing State Boulevard Project in the Brookview neighborhood.
Residents say they're concerned about the possible increase in traffic, drop in property values, and rise in taxes that would come with widening the road.

"Above all, we want a city that's attractive to live in and has a vital downtown and an interesting place to live, and if you just turn it into a crossroads for heavy traffic, you can jeopardize all of that," Shoaff said.

There are some limitations with the community compromise approach because the Indiana Department of Transportation will not fund certain projects such as putting trees in medians of roads.

However, residents said they really just want better communication and input in decisions.