MISHAWAKA - Nearly 400 people showed up at Hums Elementary School fired up about the Capital Avenue expansion project.
The Indiana Department of Transportation held an informational meeting Tuesday evening to address people's concerns about the road construction that is set to begin this spring.
Each homeowner had a different concern, and here's why.
This last phase between Lincoln Way and the Bypass affects many people and their homes.
The construction project has many people simply confused.
“It impacts us because they took some of our property," said Mishawaka homeowner Dan Grocki, who lives right off Capital Avenue.
“I have to back in to my driveway to get out," said homeowner Brian Hendrichs who lives on Capital Avenue.
Comments and confusion.
The construction for the new Capital Avenue has many neighbors on high alert.
“We’re just here to see how 12th street and Capital are going to come out when we go down to our condo," said condo owner Dorothy Jacobsen.
“We wanted to bring the maps out and the opportunity to go one on one with people and address the individual questions," said Jim Pinkerton from the Indiana Department Of Transportation.
From questions about their properties, to their daily commute, many homeowners just wanted to know what will happen to the existing Capital Avenue, which is also known as Elm Road.
Pinkerton said some neighborhoods will still have access to the existing Capital.
It will essentially become a side street.
He said the new Capital Avenue construction should not delay traffic because they're breaking ground away from the current road.
“I don’t know if there is a solution,” said Hendrichs. “We just have to work around what there is, and do the best we can."
Coping with the construction is not easy for neighbors. Some voiced their objections just to find out there was nothing they could do.
“People have been hurt, people are afraid," said Jacobsen.
“What you're seeing on the maps now is how the project is going to end up," Pinkerton said.
But others like what they see.
“I’m glad myself personally that we're doing all these projects in Mishawaka," Grocki said.
Tonight's meeting was strictly informational; there was no public hearing.
The expansion project is set to begin this spring and INDOT said it should be over by the end of next year.
Capital Avenue will be closed for a few days next month so that the road by the railroad tracks can be fixed.
Capital will also be closed for quite a few days this summer when crews start the construction for a railroad underpass, which is supposed to alleviate traffic congestion.
