Store owner says street barricades offer ‘minimal benefit’
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 09/16/2009
Zach Cox
Zach Cox | Staff Photographer Traffic at the intersection of State Street and Northwestern was down to one lane while road crews set up the barricades along State Street last year.
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The city is putting up pedestrian barricades for the weekend, but at least one local store owner doesn’t like the set up.
The barricades will be on both sides of State Street from Northwestern Avenue to Pierce Street from Thursday morning until Sunday morning for the rest of Purdue’s home football game weekends.
West Lafayette Police Chief Jason Dombkowski said the barriers will be placed before the ‘morning rush.’
“Last year the private firm did it late morning and noon time and that created some traffic congestion in the Village area,” he said. “They should be up by 6 a.m. (Thursday).”
There are several parking spaces the city will use as a staging area to hold the barriers before set-up each week the barriers are up.
“There’s about 20 parking spaces on South Street between Chauncey and Salisbury posted for no parking as a staging zone for them weekly,” Dombkowski said.
According to Dombkowski, West Lafayette and Purdue police will patrol the areas around the barriers at four times during the weekend: Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday morning during Breakfast Club.
“Those targeted times are late evening to mornings and early morning ’til kickoff on Saturday,” he said.
The city did not put up barriers for the first home game because not enough students were expected to be here, according to Dombkowski.
“The first week was Labor Day weekend. We decided not to do it that weekend; the student population was probably not that big,” he said.
Dombkowski said the city wanted to leave the barricades up when Purdue football had multiple home games in a row, but there were concerns from some businesses in the Village area that the barriers would keep customers away.
“The initial plan was to leave them up just for ease and for the expense of the manpower,” he said. “But there were concerns from the Village area merchants, and as response, Mayor Dennis decided it’d be best to compromise and just have them up on weekends when they’re needed.”
Dombkowski said police want to have a presence around the barriers to make sure pedestrians in the area are safe. He said when there is higher police presence they make fewer arrests.
“Just having that number of officers in the Village acts as a deterrent and keeps people safer,” he said.
Von’s owner John von Erdmannsdorff said the barriers are not worth the effort or cost for the level of safety they provide. He said the barriers squeeze car traffic into a smaller area and force bikes onto the sidewalk.
“There’s about eight things wrong with them and one thing right,” he said. “During Grand Prix it was a matter of hours before the first wreck in front of our store. Someone did hit the barricades at one point.”
Von Erdmannsdorff said there is still one benefit to having the barricades, but there is a catch.
“The one plus, there are fewer people jaywalking,” he said. “But once they enter (the street), they are caught in a bowling alley and they have to climb over. It is more dangerous for anyone who does cross in that area.”
Von Erdmannsdorff said Von’s stores usually see less foot traffic anyway around game days, but the barriers don’t help.
“On those days, the customer count is usually lower because people usually avoid the drunken disorderliness,” he said. “We get complaints from customers because of traffic problems.”
He said the barriers should cause a little less hassle now because they won’t be put up during daytime traffic hours.
“Last year, traffic was backed into Lafayette clear to the bridge,” he said.
Von Erdmannsdorff said the city is spending thousands of dollars on these barriers, but he doesn’t think it’s worth it.
“You’ve just invited a street party,” he said. “If the city wants a street party, that’s their business.”
He said the chances are still too high that someone might get hurt, and that the barriers will cause frustration and possibly more traffic accidents.
“It’s just a shame that everyone driving that street will be inconvenienced for the minimal benefit,” he said.