The city of Valparaiso is planning upgrades to Yellowstone Road, after months of resident complaints. City Engineer Mike Jabo says the city is seeking state funding for structural resurfacing, as part of its Community Crossings grant application.
"Just for the record, it's not going to be an Eisenhower [Avenue] with full curbs and all that stuff, but we definitely are going to be doing the road," Jabo explained to the city council Monday. "Now, the question of the sidewalk: yes, they need attention. We will pursue those in other programs."
Jabo also plans to post a 20-ton weight limit for Yellowstone, with exceptions for school buses and maintenance trucks, and to reroute some city trucks to Froberg Road.
But resident Mary Abraytis worried those improvements won't go far enough. "They may be resurfacing Yellowstone Road in attempts to cover up their wrongdoings, but to be clear, there's a difference between repair and restore," Abraytis told council members.
She wants "No Thru Truck" signs reinstalled and violators to be cited.
But Jabo said he couldn't find any documentation about why the signs were posted to begin with, and longtime city employees say they've always driven trucks there. "The sign was removed in 2019. It's interesting to note that the truck volumes were consistently the same type of vehicle and actually higher in 2018 than they were in 2021 and 2023," Jabo added.
Jabo said the amount of truck traffic on Yellowstone is not uncommon when compared to similar city streets. He said most of those are smaller trucks, with virtually no semis.
