Growing Pains…Traffic and Parking issues

IU East proposed an addition of a traffic light in 1981 where it is now due to the traffic congestion that accompanied a growing campus and a “near fatal accident of two students”. Before the light, “students would leave the university to go south by turning right, going north to the Second National Bank, and turning around there to enter the highway safely for the trip south.” Art Vivian involved in contacting the City Engineer, George Webb. Proposal of traffic light was first put in during 1977 but did not come to fruition due to lack of funding. Surrounding businesses and residents were all surveyed concerning addition of the traffic light. The only surrounding business that objected to the light was a dentistry run by Dr. Delynn Stults, who opposed the light because it would inconvenience his access to Highway 27 North.

Residents were also surveyed concerning the light, and one couple —Mr. And Mrs. Scarborough (lived on 2401Chester Blvd.)— “reported that after experiencing six accidents involving others, they have become tired of pulling people out of wrecked vehicles, administering first aid, and waiting for an ambulance.” Students supported the addition of the traffic light. Surveys were given to both day and night students asking if they or someone they knew had been involved in an accident or almost had an accident at the intersection and if there should be a light installed. Over half of students asked in both day and night said they knew someone who almost had an accident at the intersection, and a total of 84% said there should be a light installed. Only 6% were involved in an accident (Roth).

Between 1981, when the light was first proposed, to 1987, when the light was finally approved, a total of 37 collisions occurred with 15 personal injuries. By this point, there were several businesses along Chester Boulevard and both Ivy Tech and IU East had a steadily increasing student population, all which contributed to growing traffic along Chester Boulevard. The light was installed at the entrance of the campus driveway and across from a Ponderosa Restaurant (now a Shell station) the latter half of 1987 (Russell, 1987).

By the 1980’s, growing enrollment and the addition of a recreational sports field, which was also a space the community used, meant there were more students and visitors coming to the campus then there were parking spots (Ward, 1988). Many students would park in the grass and they would be ticketed by Campus Security (Scott, 1991).  A new parking lot (the Tom Raper parking lot) was built in 1990, with half the funds coming from the university and the other half from a loan that was taken against the income collected through student, faculty, and staff parking fees, including parking tickets (Judge, 1990).