What gave rise to the meeting was the possibility that Cooper Road would be extended from Ind. 334 north through Union Township as part of the roadway link involving an interchange at Cooper Road and I-865 - a proposal on the drawing board being considered by the Zionsville Transportation Master Plan Study Committee.
Residents along Cooper Road south of Ind. 334 and adjacent property owners in what is provincially known as "Horse Country'' rode to the hounds when they found out about the possibility of the Cooper Road-I-865 interchange. Since those plans surfaced, town officials have been besieged with emails protesting the idea, and residents of the area have been packing the working group of the transportation study committee meetings.
At last Friday's meeting (8-20) of the study committee, it was announced that the proposed extension of Cooper Road north of Ind. 334 has "been separated out'' of consideration for the updated Zionsville Transportation Master Plan. No reason was offered why this extension of Cooper Road had been "separated out'' of the proposed planning.
However, Zionsville Confidential has learned the reason for the separation. As originally proposed, the "Cooper Road project'' begins at I-865, extends north to Ind. 334, and the proceeds to connect with 875, and onward to 900 linking with Ind. 32. It should be noted that there are parts of the alignment that would have to be constructed through some very expensive real estate.
With the furor that the project has caused along Cooper Road in the equestrian district, planners were worried that should, for some reason, the project fail to become part of the updated Zionsville Master Transportation Plan, the entire alignment would have been doomed. So, to safeguard the segment of Cooper Road north of Ind. 334, planners decided to split the concept into two parts in the master plan. One wonders just why the extension north of 334 is so important. Not many people live up there. Yet.
How's that old saying go? Oh yes, "Build it and they will come." And then so will the interchange.
Stay tuned.
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