STREET SERIES — Changes continue along Daleville's Walnut Street

By Barrett Newkirk

September 07, 2008 06:57 pm

— DALEVILLE — Rush hour on Walnut Street isn’t going to induce road rage or make you later for dinner, so the locals have to wonder why so many people half-heartedly follow traffic signs.
On a recent weekday afternoon, just as businesses on Walnut Street’s south end began sending workers home, it was easy to see why this north-south artery is sometimes referred to as a drag strip.
Cars and pickup trucks would speed up as they barreled down the streets. The speed limit is 30, but some drivers seemed to think they’d already hit the state highway.
And speeding isn’t the only problem.
“There are people constantly blowing the stop sign, I can tell you that,” said Kristin Dunlap, who for almost two years has lived at the corner of Walnut and Fourth streets. The intersection is one of the few where drivers on Walnut are asked to make a complete stop.
The 32-year-old stay-at-home mom said Walnut Street is generally quiet, but traffic does pick up in the afternoons when school lets out and when people start coming home from work.
Walnut Street was originally known as Main Street. The name change came when the community incorporated itself into a town in 1982, but the street’s role has changed very little.
The street connects two vastly different business districts. On the south end, where Walnut hits Indiana 67, restaurants and small businesses seem to thrive on their close proximity to Interstate 69. But Walnut’s far north end reveals mostly vacant buildings.
Lifelong Daleville resident Nina Gross said that area near Indiana 32 has been bleak since she was a kid growing up during the 1960s.
The post office where Goss works is one of the few hubs of activity. A few lots down, Jim Shoemaker has his little shop.
Shoemaker, 75, has run his plumbing and electrical service business out of a former filling station since 1973. An automotive lift still sits on his workroom floor.
Shoemaker remembers when Daleville boasted a grocery store, three pool halls, barber shops and a furniture store, all on the street’s north end.
“Everything went south of town,” he said.
But Walnut Street continues to connect both areas and serves as a direct route for people coming from outside the town.
Town Council President Mike Murphy said that while Daleville’s population is only 1,700 the jobs in the town far outnumber that. Much of the out-of-town traffic winds up on Walnut Street, he said.
“The street sees about 3,000 cars a day, and that’s during the summer when school’s not in session,” Murphy said. “It’s probably double that right now.”
In order to keep that traffic flowing smoothly, the town is preparing to repave Walnut and add sidewalks to the street’s east side. Most of the street only has sidewalks to the west.
Walnut Street is already the only road in town sporting curbs, drainage and sidewalks on any side, Murphy said.
It is hoped that the project will begin in October and end before winter, Murphy said. But it was still too early to know for sure. The town must still complete the engineering phase and go through the bidding process.
“If somebody hiccups along the way, it’s not going to happen,” Murphy said.


Each Monday, The Herald Bulletin is profiling a street in Madison County in our On Your Street series. What’s on the street? Who lives there? What is the history? Those are questions we’ll try to answer. And it’s not just streets. Roads, boulevards and lanes will be included. If you have a street you’d like to nominate for our coverage, let Stephen Dick, assistant managing editor, know. Reach him at The Herald Bulletin, 1133 Jackson St., Anderson 46016 or (765) 640-4863 or steve.dick@heraldbulletin.com.

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