Updated at 11:44 a.m. CT.
Some Evansville city councilmembers are concerned about an Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) draft of suggestions to improve, but the council denied a resolution calling for public hearings about the highway’s future at its Monday night meeting.
Councilwoman Missy Mosby introduced the resolution because she’s concerned over what she sees as a lack of public input in INDOT’s long-term plans for the expressway.
An INDOT study released early this summer suggests replacing some major intersections with displaced left turns.
If the resolution passed, the council would’ve officially opposed INDOT’s suggested plans and call for public hearings. It also would’ve recommended overpasses as an alternative.
Instead, the resolution failed to pass with five no votes and only three yes votes.
Deputy Mayor Steve Schaefer spoke at the meeting. He said concerns are premature. “They haven’t developed a plan yet," he said about INDOT. "There’s no money attached to it."
He said INDOT wants to hear from the public, and he’s confident the city can work with state transportation officials.
“The good thing is is that the city has a good relationship with INDOT," he said. "If there is something that comes forward in the future, we think we have a good enough relationships to influence whatever happens.”
INDOT spokesman Jason Tiller said that there will be opportunities for public comment and that suggestions put forward in the study are just drafts.
City council's decision to block the resolution comes after the Board of Commissioners in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties approved similar ones.