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North Daviess superintendent raises safety concerns over potential convenience mart at Highway 58 and County Road 550 East
Summary
North Daviess Community Schools superintendent Jody Berry told commissioners a proposed convenience mart/truck stop at 5290 E. State Road 58 is adjacent to school property and could create pedestrian and bus-safety issues. County staff said driveway permits and a traffic study would be considered when formal applications arrive.
Jody Berry, superintendent of North Daviess Community Schools, told the Daviess County commissioners March 11 that she is concerned about a possible convenience mart or truck stop planned for 5290 East State Road 58, adjacent to the southwest corner of the district’s property.
Berry said the site is next to the football field and that she is worried about student safety if the business’s driveway connects to County Road 550 East, which the school uses for student drivers and buses. “I have 20 buses that use County Road 550 East to enter our property. I have a 39 high school student drivers,” Berry said and later described the count as 139 student drivers when expanding her totals for the board; she provided to staff that she would send hard numbers to the county after the meeting.
Berry also said heavy parent drop-off at the elementary entrance and flooding on 550 East during heavy rain raise safety concerns, and said many students who stay after activities would likely walk to a nearby convenience store for snacks. On utilities, Berry said the district’s sewer main was not built to accept additional connections and that North Daviess would not permit others to tie into its line.
County staff and commissioners responded that driveway permits off 550 East come through the county and that the county would review any formal application and consider traffic counts. The commission said it would ask NDOT and seek a traffic study from LTAP at Purdue to evaluate pedestrian and vehicle safety and advised Berry to provide the written counts she referenced.
Ending: Commissioners asked staff to route Berry’s counts to the highway department and to coordinate with NDOT and LTAP when a formal driveway or access application is filed.
