After two fatalities in nine months, Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, has asked the Indiana Department of Transportation to assist in analyzing the intersection of Indiana 8 and Baums Bridge Road just west of Kouts.
While a meeting time has yet to be determined, an INDOT spokesperson said Monday that the agency is committed to assisting.
“For the wellbeing and safety of the motoring public, most of whom are Porter County residents that travel this stretch of road daily, we are asking that INDOT look into this issue and establish remedies as soon as possible,” Biggs wrote in a letter to the INDOT deputy commissioner of the LaPorte District, Matt Deitchley, dated June 26.
“We strongly feel that INDOT’s detailed look at what is happening at this intersection is necessary in light of the recent fatalities and the 5½ year crash history that demonstrates a high incidence of crashes occurring at the Baums Bridge intersection compared to any other single location along the SR 8 corridor within Porter County.”
The intersection does not appear to be on one of the agency’s list of problem intersections, though INDOT officials will be happy to meet with the Board of Commissioners at the Administration Building and then would likely send the Traffic Investigations Team out to see the site at a separate time, said Cassandra Bajek, public relations director for INDOT’s Northwest District.
“We try to have as good of a working relationship with as many city and county people as we can,” Bajek said. “This seems like kind of a unique situation.”
She said road funding is planned out five years in advance so getting funding in place for permanent solutions could take some time. In the interim INDOT may look to signage and other interventions to make the intersection safer.
There are already flashing electronic signs that warn drivers when they are entering traffic at the intersection. Bajek could not say when they were installed.
“There’s a chance it wasn’t us, but more than likely it was,” Bajek said of the signs. She explained cities and counties can apply for special permits to install such signs on state highways like Indiana 8.
The intersection does not form a 90-degree angle and so far, the flashing signs have not stopped fatalities. Daniel Kohler, a 24-year-old Demotte man, died in a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection on June 24 after colliding with a dump truck.
According to Porter County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Sgt. Ben McFalls, authorities were called around 3:51 p.m. on that Monday. Kohler was eastbound on his motorcycle on Indiana 8 while the truck was westbound. An SUV also traveled westbound in front of the truck as all three approached the intersection of Indiana 8 and Baums Bridge Road.
The driver of the truck told police he went left of center to avoid rear-ending the SUV. The truck then struck the motorcycle, according to police. A witness told police the SUV was turning north onto Baums Bridge Road and had signaled that. The witness said the truck didn’t appear to slow at the same rate as the SUV and went around the vehicle as it turned.
On the afternoon of Sept. 2, 2023, the driver of a pickup was headed northbound through the intersection of Baums Bridge Road and Indiana 8 when it struck and killed a motorcyclist headed westbound on Indiana 8.
Porter County Sheriff Jeff Balon said a reconstruction of the June 24 crash is ongoing and is a lengthy process, with drones and special scanners.
“We do them for every fatal and every serious bodily injury accident,” Balon said of the reconstruction.
“This definitely needs to be addressed,” he added. “I can’t think of an intersection on Highway 8 that we are at more than Baums Bridge Road.”
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
