ELKHART — A newly completed $8 million streetscape project at Indiana Toll Road Exit 92 is an important improvement to one of the key entryways to the community, city officials say.
Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony – using a thin metal ribbon – for the project Monday in front of the Cracker Barrel off Cassopolis Street.
The area around the Toll Plaza includes a new green space, micro park, sidewalks and signage.
While the project serves as an important piece for the quality of place part of the city’s Aspire plan, it also serves as an economic development project, Development Services Director Mike Huber said.
“We’re hoping to attract more folks to be intrigued by what they see from the design as they go into the toll road and want to check out the community and learn more about the community and drive additional revenue and business for all of the hospitality businesses,” Huber said.
The city estimates there are 1.86 million annual total vehicle trips through the Exit 92 ramps. It is also estimated that there are 10.2 million total vehicle trips on the Indiana Toll Road annually, the city said.
The streetscape project will change perceptions about the city to the millions of vehicles that drive on the toll road, Huber said. The project will also enhance pedestrian safety in the corridor, primarily for employees of hospitality businesses on Exit 92, he said.
Mayor Rod Roberson said the project is important to how others see the community and how the community sees itself.
“Based on our growth and based on the visibility we have as a community, the way that we populate these areas and the way that we create the kind of relationship that these structures, this park, the structure on the bridge itself, it is so important to how Elkhart is seen and how it’s lived,” Roberson said.
Roberson said when he was first elected in 2019, the streetscape project was one of the first projects brought to him. The project will attract new visitors and make residents proud of their city, he said.