Our community has a River Road experience most communities along a river would envy – clean, picturesque, easily accessible, and not cluttered with billboards, intrusive development, overhead utility lines, or inappropriate public or private lighting.
Since the building of State Road 316 just over 80 years ago to replace the gravel road from Vera Cruz to Bluffton, the River Road experience from White Bridge to Bluffton has been a picturesque experience: along the north side the easily accessible Wabash River flows just beyond the now over 35-year-old River Greenway, and along the south side stretch vistas of farmland and residential yards up to houses, some that are now historic in their own right.
There are certain landmarks iconic to Wells County: the Wabash River, Ouabache State Park, the Wells County Courthouse, Bluffton’s City Hall, Wells County Historical Museum, Five-Points School House along Jeff Road, the Salamonie River, Deam Oak, and the scenic River Road drive from White Bridge to Bluffton. To diminish any of these is to diminish the community we call “home.”
Comes now the City of Bluffton with the plan to light River Road and the River Greenway by installing standard wooden utility poles along the south side of River Road with street light arms extending the ubiquitous street lamps over the road and electrified by overhead wires. Mayor John Whicker, in a letter dated August 13, 2024, and received by River Road property owners on August 16, 2024, informed us that the second attempt to install these proposed street lights will begin on August 20, 2024. Certain City officials have explained to us in two meetings that this project is an engineered solution to provide public safety based on traffic counts while also providing lighting for the River Greenway, yet these same City officials continue to fail to account for how the proposed lighting effects the quality of life the scenic River Road experience provides the community, effects the property owners and their Wabash River frontage property, effects wildlife and the natural environment, and isn’t justified by INDOT’s own traffic volume data.
The City’s proposed “engineered” solution lacks the design inherent in good city planning.
In a meeting with River Road property owners, Councilman Scott Mentzer has stated that this plan to light River Road and the River Greenway was a utility decision and then asserted that it is a Mayoral decision. Installing 27 utility poles with street lights along the historic and picturesque River Road to light the River Greenway needs public review – that is standard good city planning practice.
Moreover, there is no recorded documentation in the office of the Wells County Recorder of right-of-way from Orchard Ridge Drive to the White Bridge for this roadway. The recording of property transactions is required by State law and upheld by Indiana case law to make sure the public, especially succeeding property owners, can find such information.
How do we leave this community a better place to live? A natural, picturesque River Road without intrusive clutter helps sustain the quality of life to call this place “home.”
Respectively,
The River Road Neighborhood
Dan and Jennifer Brink, Phil and Cindy Gagle, Nathan Clem, Braden and Carrie Boots, Barry and Constance Duncan, Doug Sundling, Steve Gerber, Rebecca Steury, Jennifer Golder, Jason and Tiffany Smith
