DYER | Dyer might have difficulty proceeding with its plans to install a sidewalk between Castlewood subdivision and the Walgreens on U.S. 30.
Officials had hoped to tap a Safe Routes to School grant to pay for the sidewalk for children in the Castlewood area who attend Kahler Middle School.
But findings by W. Dennis Cobb, of First Group Engineering, show that a right of way along the Castlewood intersection right turn lane is too narrow to allow a sidewalk.
The town has two choices, Cobb said. It could eliminate the U.S. 30 turning lane at Castlewood or buy right of way from Meyer’s Castle, which owns the property directly abutting the turn lane.
Either way brings challenges, because Castlewood residents oppose eliminating the turn lane.
Purchasing right of way from Meyer’s Castle would mean dealing with the rules and regulations associated with a site listed on the National Register of Historic Properties.
The Indiana Department of Transportation may decide to eliminate the right turn lane on its own, Cobb recently told the Town Council.
The town cannot redraw the sidewalk to stop farther west at Great Lakes Drive because it would risk losing its grant.
At the very least, the complications found at the site could delay the project by as much as two years.
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