How the new U.S. 31 bypass will look has been an ongoing debate in Kokomo and Howard County.

The questions at hand revolve around development along the new route.

Muncie and Fort Wayne leaders already had their debates regarding zoning when they were facing the construction of new express routes away from the existing business corridor in their communities.

“We don’t want the bypass to end up like McGalliard Road,” Pam Spoonermore, zoning planner for the Delware/Muncie Municipal Planning Commission, said of Muncie’s main thoroughfare.

McGalliard Road extends from

I-69 east through Muncie to the Ind. 67 bypass. Most of the road is now home to retail establishments and has become the main shopping area for Delaware County.

It’s a different story for the Ind. 67 bypass, which is dotted with intersections for county roads, a set of railroad tracks and one stoplight.

“Most of the property is zoned agricultural and residential,” Spoonermore said. “We don’t want retail development.”

She said there have not been many requests to rezone property along the bypass east of Muncie.

Several years ago, I-469 was developed east of Fort Wayne. I-69, which is dotted with interchanges to access retail and commercial development, remains a heavily traveled roadway.

Paul Blisk, deputy land director with the Department of Planning Services for Fort Wayne and Allen County, said I-469 was built to allow for future growth. The new roadway was constructed several miles to the east of the existing interstate.

Currently, there is little development along I-469 except at the north end, where several retail chain stores have located.

“It is not intentional,” Blisk said of the lack of retail development. “It’s all market driven.”

Blisk said there is limited sewer and water capacity in the areas along I-469 that are zoned commercial.

He believes Fort Wayne is large enough to sustain retail development along both interstate routes, and believes there will eventually be retail growth.

“There are some warehouses by the airport,” Blisk said. “There is some demand that will be determined as the airport continues to grow.”

When Kokomo’s bypass opens, Blisk said, truckers will stay away from the existing route.

Glen Boise, director of the Kokomo/Howard County Plan Commission, said Howard County officials have not looked at what other communities have done regarding zoning along an expressway. Rather, he said, they are relying on the consultant hired by county commissioners and local opinion.

Boise said there are parallel county roads along the new route that could serve as an access road.

“We want it set back so that there can be development on both sides of an access road,” he said. “We’re looking at light industry and warehouse development.”

Boise said a concern is development along the county roads leading to the expressway.

Currently, Howard County has a moratorium on any zoning changes along the bypass route east of Kokomo.

The Kokomo/Howard County Convention and Visitors Bureau, among other groups, is opposed to allowing any retail development along the new route. The fear is that retail development will result in many of the businesses along the existing route to relocate, leaving a string of empty storefronts.

Boise said the moratorium has to be renewed every January by the commissioners.

He said Indiana is buying access rights along the proposed expressway to prevent private driveways or streets to connect to the route. The plan is to allow access only at the interchanges.

Boise said the current U.S. 31 was constructed in the 1950s and the state didn’t purchase access right of way. He said there was no planned development.

When U.S. 31 was built, it was designed as a rural four-lane highway where commercial development was allowed over the past decade. The existing route is broken up by numerous stop lights, streets intersecting the roadway and retail driveways.

“We don’t want to see a duplication of what we have now,” he said.

• Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can be reached at 765-454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com