MARTINSVILLE — It isn’t the extra 20 minutes it now takes to get to Martinsville or the stream of frustrated drivers whipping into her driveway and yard on a daily basis, or even the noise of the seemingly never-ending construction on the new interstate that really bothers Brenda Earnshaw.
What truly concerns the Old Ind. 37 resident is safety — or more specifically, the lack of emergency access to her and her neighbors’ homes near Martinsville.
Earnshaw has lived for nearly 40 years with her husband, John, at the residence, the last home travelers come across as they try to get on Ind. 37 from Old Ind. 37, hoping to evade the ongoing Interstate 69 construction. But for the past two months, the exit has been closed as Section 5 work nears the projected August completion date.
The closure has also caused emergency crews to reconsider how to get to the area in case something happens.
“It’s really inconvenient, and that’s one thing, but when our homes are in danger of burning down ...” Earnshaw said. “Two of our neighbors are in their 90s. My husband and I are in our 70s, and you don’t know when you’re going to have an emergency.”
Several weeks ago, Earnshaw’s son, who lives in a home on the property, thought he was having a heart attack. At the time, the exit to Ind. 37 was blocked off by concrete barriers, so the ambulance parked in front and the EMTs had to walk to the residence. Earnshaw said her son had to go over the barrier himself to get to the ambulance.
After that, a cable was placed across the access point. It was there for around a month before being replaced by concrete barriers. The pavement between the barrier and Ind. 37 has also been torn up, so an ambulance can no longer park there safely.
Emergency access
Lonnie Kerns, fire chief for Washington Township in Morgan County, said the department had contacted Walsh Construction and the Indiana Department of Transportation to get emergency access to the road and, as far as he knew, they were the only ones who had the key to remove the cable barrier. He was not contacted by the state when the cable was removed, but rather saw it during a daily drive by the site to check on progress.
“It didn’t make any sense not to provide us emergency access,” Kerns said. “I still think they could, to some extent. There’s no reason they shouldn’t.”
Like Earnshaw and her neighbors, the fire department has had to find alternative ways to access the area, such as taking Hacker Creek Road. The detour routes, however, add significant time to an emergency response.
“It will take us longer to get there than normal until they get that access road open, there’s no avoiding that. It’s roughly an additional 10 minutes,” Kerns said. “There’s no option in a 60,000-pound truck. I can’t get off on the dirt pickup there. I would end up tearing the truck up or getting stuck.”
Kerns said he feared they would run into the same problems as last fall, when there were an inordinate number of wrecks near the area and emergency services had difficulty getting to the scene. He said he had requested that INDOT finish the frontage roads before cutting off access so emergency vehicles can get around construction.
“We had many vehicle crashes down in that construction zone, and at times, it could be hard to get to because the traffic was so bad,” he said. “So if they finish the frontage roads first so we can get around their construction, that would help us.”
Donnie Warren, Morgan County Emergency Medical Services director, said there are plans in place to respond to emergencies on Old Ind. 37, and while it’s not ideal, it is a work in progress.
“If you’re used to a 10- or 15-minute response time, and that’s doubled, that would be very concerning,” he said. “Those are things we can work out with INDOT and the powers that be to try and clear up those areas from any major issues.”
Like Kerns, Warren hopes the state will go back to completing access roads before closing off exits, and continue including emergency crews in the discussions.
“Not knowing what the people before us had put in place is a challenge for us, as well, because we had no input on the furnished roads. ... We’ve been dealing with the hand that’s been dealt to us, where we have to be more reactive versus proactive,” Warren said, noting INDOT has been very open to being contacted with concerns.
“I don’t want those people to think that we’ve forgotten about them. It’s just that sometimes, progress gets in the way,” he said. “We will absolutely, positively find a way to get out there.”
State control
When INDOT took over Section 5 work last August, the project had not been sequenced appropriately, according to Andy Dietrick, I-69 innovative projects delivery and public affairs manager.
“We’re playing catch-up on not just the main line, but the access roads, and sequencing a major project like this, you would generally do those access roads first so people have a way to get around,” Dietrick said. “That was not the case when we took over the project. We have to do that at the same time as we are doing the main line and interchange work.
“We’re getting to the point where closures, permanent closures, are happening more frequently. We just want people to be aware that if you used to have a really convenient access point directly to Ind. 37, those will pretty much all be gone by probably the middle of July, if they’re not gone already.”
Dietrick said access roads are being built every day and INDOT is cognizant of the fact that people are having a tough time getting around the construction zone.
As for the temporary cable barrier at the Old Ind. 37 exit, he said earlier this month, it was determined it would have to be removed and the road would be permanently closed due to the construction of the access road connecting to Liberty Church Road, which he expected to be completed by the end of this month.
“The access points that motorists and customers have been used to having for years and years are going away,” Dietrick said.
“We will have interchanges and access roads for mobility, but all of those driveways, all of those side roads that were all up and down Ind. 37 are disappearing as we turn this into a limited-access highway,” he said, and INDOT tries to give drivers as much notice as possible. “Some closures, we have a legal obligation to give a certain amount of notice to first responders and emergency management, certain customers, that kind of thing, before we actually close a road.”
When Old Ind. 37 closed earlier this spring, Dietrick said, there was a lot of confusion from people used to taking it as a shortcut to avoid the construction, but that died down after about a week.
“If we’re hearing back from customers, then that’s something we at INDOT have to take seriously and see what we can do about pushing our contractors to maybe rethink how they’re building that road or change their schedule to get that temporary gate in as quickly as possible,” Dietrick said.
He encourages anyone with concerns to contact INDOT directly by messaging section5@in.gov, going to indot4u.com, calling 855-463-6848 or leaving a message with contact information at the Section 5 office at 812-727-5796.
“Closures cause inconvenience for people, and that’s one thing, and we apologize for inconvenience,” he said. “But a closure, in some cases, may, especially if there is a medical condition or there is somebody who absolutely needs to have access quicker than what can be given, we need to be aware of that so we can make the appropriate accommodations, if possible.”
As construction progresses on Section 5 of the I-69 project, Old Ind. 37 residents such as Earnshaw continue to hold out hope that they will not be forgotten, and that finishing the vital access road will be a priority.
“It’s not just us. A lot of people use that road to avoid 37,” Earnshaw said. “Whoever made that decision to take that road evidently never went on it.
“We figure we pay our taxes, too. It’ll be our homes that burn down if they can’t get to us.”