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Board approves access agreement for Larson Boulevard interchange; resident urges pause
Summary
Commissioners approved an access/right-of-way agreement with Milestone Contractors allowing use of one county-acquired house as a temporary construction office for the State Road 2 Larson Boulevard diverging-diamond interchange project after discussion about whether related development pauses warrant delaying work.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners voted to approve an access and right-of-way agreement with Milestone Contractors for the State Road 2 (Larson Boulevard) interchange project and authorized use of one county-acquired house as a temporary construction office for the duration of the project. County infrastructure staff clarified the request was limited to using one of several properties purchased in the northeast quadrant of the intersection as a construction office rather than placing a trailer at the construction site.
During public comment, resident Dan Caruso urged the board to pause the $50 million diverging-diamond interchange because the GM/Samsung project that helped justify the interchange is currently paused. Caruso said, "It would seem financially responsible to put a pause on this $50,000,000 project of the diverging diamond." County staff and the chair responded that agreements with state and GM and emerging traffic from the AWS campus (staff noted "over 1000 employees at the AWS campus") support proceeding and that INDOT/NDOT engineers reviewed iterations of designs before selecting the diverging-diamond alternative. The motion to approve the agreement passed on a recorded vote.
