Staff say aging traffic counters and Beacon mapping gaps hamper Carroll County traffic data

Aria Staiger of the Area Plan Commission of Tippecanoe County presented the committee with 2024 traffic-count data and raised concerns about the reliability of the county's traffic counters and the accuracy of the roads layer used to map counts.

Staiger said the counts were collected over six weeks with two additional weeks for recounts, and that the data are organized by speed and vehicle class. She reported that five tube-style counters failed during the 2024 counting cycle and that most counters are roughly ten years old, increasing the risk of additional failures. The counters are funded through a grant, with the Indiana Department of Transportation covering 80% of purchase costs; Staiger said January was the deadline for the fiscal-year grant and fiscal year 2026 funding would allow for replacements.

Staiger also described problems tying count locations to road segments in Beacon, saying some roads either do not exist in the database or the map is outdated by as much as ten years. Committee members identified Lauren Duff, Deputy Assessor, as the point of contact to request Beacon edits and updates.

Committee members did not take a formal vote on purchasing new counters at the Aug. 15 meeting. The committee recorded that minutes from May 16, 2023, were not approved because there was no quorum. The meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m., with the next scheduled meeting listed as Nov. 21, 2024.