Road Project
The iron bridge from 1900 will be removed, as will the current bridge that was upgraded a few years ago. A 100 foot bridge will be put in, and the trees along the creek will be removed.
up right, and we have the opportunity to do that and provide a decent road for the county to take over.”
Linda Baden, who moved to the area 35 years ago, also recalls working with Stewart to oppose the original road project.
“ We fought off a road years ago, but for whatever reason, the state wants to have this road go through,” Baden said.“ And as far as I can see, they’ ve never made a convincing case for the purpose and need of the road.”
Allen said occasional flooding near the bridge on the main access to Yellowwood from Highway 46 is among the problems being addressed.
“ It’ s not every time it rains, but there’ s been five or six times a year that it floods and a few time when the flooding has been so bad that it’ s been impassable for a couple of days,” he said.
“ It can become a real safety issue for people coming down here who don’ t know the roads and are not used to roads being underwater,” Allen said.“ They think they can drive through it, but end up getting caught in the middle of it.
“ People who live here know when they can get through it and when they can’ t. Since we’ re inviting people to the property, it’ s kind of our responsibility to see that they have a safe road to get into the property.”
But Baden said the flooding was a minor inconvenience that mainly affects residents who are opposing the project.
The approximately 25 to 30 residents in the affected area are concerned that improvements will bring more traffic and higher speeds.
“ Down on the south end of the road, they’ re concerned that people would use the road as a crossthrough between highway 45 and highway 46,” Baden said.“ It would open up the whole interior of the Yellowwood State Forest to much more traffic.
“ Speeds will go up. Right now, the gravel and the roughness of the road keep the speeds down and if someone does have an accident, it’ s at a slow speed.”
Allen said any improvement probably will increase speeds and traffic somewhat.
“ I suppose there may be a little bit of increase in traffic going from 45 to 46, but the north end is still going to be gravel, so I don’ t think that’ s too big of an issue,” he said.”
“ Our hope is that we are going to get more people to come out to the forest, so yes, we’ re hoping for more traffic,” he said.“ I understand that people who have lived here a long time, they like their privacy and they don’ t like that. But our goal here is to serve the people of Indiana and provide recreational facilities for them, and provide a safe, reasonable access to the property.”
Opponents believe the unimproved road is more in keeping with Brown County’ s rural image, and there could be a price to pay for getting too developed.
Baden said visitors to the Yellowwood area find a certain rural charm.
“ People appreciate us for that,” she said.“ They love the fact that they get down here and they feel like they are really in the
Continued on 56 March / April 2015 • Our Brown County 53