Markland-Enterprise Pike is one of the most well-traveled roads in Switzerland County, and with 13-percent of all county accidents happening on Markland Pike, the Switzerland County Commissioners are beginning to look at ways of improving the road to make it more safe for motorists.
This Monday night, April 2nd, the commissioners will hold a public meeting to get input and information from the community about the different options available for fixing the problems on the road.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the basement meeting room of the Switzerland County Courthouse, and will follow the commissioners regular meeting, which will begin at 5 p.m.
Those wishing to attend may use the Pike Street entrance to the courthouse, and then use the elevator or stairs to the basement meeting room.
This is a special meeting of the commissioners, and it is open to the public. Those wanting to express an opinion on the reconstruction and realignment of Markland Pike are urged to attend this meeting.
According to a preliminary report, traffic studies show that the average traffic on Markland Pike is 1,100 per day. Most of those drivers use the road as a short cut between State Road 56 and State Road 156, and the report noted that if those drivers chose to state on the state roads rather than use Markland Pike, it would be an additional nine miles per day.
That calculates to an additional vehicle cost of $1.5 million per year just to travel a safer route. According to a cost benefit analysis that the engineering firm did, realigning the road in some fashion will save $77,000 per year as well as give drivers a safer road to travel on.
There are six different alignment possibilities at this time.