Lipinski pushes for solution at 750W; Bray advocates for changes at 850E, 50S
The sound of banjos, fiddles, and mandolins will echo across western Howard County once again this August as the Winding Creek Music Festival returns. But there’s something wandering in the woods this year.
That’s right. There has been a Bigfoot sighting!
Make sure to visit the Winding Creek Music Festival, Aug. 13-16, as a fantastic line-up of bands are joined by vendors, music instructors, a Sunday 5K, and that hairy forest recluse and his friends.
Tickets for the Winding Creek Music Festival are on sale now and can be purchased at www.windingcreekmusicfestival.com. A discount is available for buying tickets prior to Aug. 1. See the site for prices on single-day, three-day, and four-day tickets. The Sunday family ticket includes admission for two adults and up to four kids for just $20.
Summer means speed on Howard County’s roads. Couple this with winding roads in some locations and tall cornstalks in others, and the recipe for tragedy delivers its mournful product every year.
Recent traffic accidents have the Howard County Board of Commissioners concerned and demanding changes. They called Howard County Highway Superintendent Amber Tolle to speak on two intersections of concern at their July 20 meeting.
Commissioner Jeff Lipinski was particularly concerned by the intersection of 750 W and 00 NS, where a recent accident with a scooter ended in tragedy. He raised concerns initially at the commissioners’ July 6 meeting.
“That road has had numerous accidents since I was a child, and we just had a tragedy close to that intersection,” said Lipinski. “I think we’ve had enough accidents there and enough tragedy that it’s time that something to be done.
“I would like to see us do a professional traffic study in that area, and I know it’s going to cost money, but we’ve lost numerous lives. I think it’s past time that we do something.”
Commissioner Jack Dodd noted that Tolle had been made aware of the issue and was working on hiring a traffic engineer to evaluate the intersection.
“But what can we do in the meantime?” asked Dodd. “That’s the question. It seems to me a bigger and brighter stop sign with the reflective stripes going down the side and with a sign underneath that says cross traffic does not stop. I wonder about putting those stop signs on each side.”
Dodd added that this type of signage likely would not have prevented the scooter accident that brought the issue to the surface. Still, he requested that the traffic department install such signage in the absence of motorist safety.
“These scooters are dangerous,” said Dodd. “People need to be aware when they’re out on these scooters. They need to have all the required lights, and they need to wear light clothing. They need to take precautions. How do you regulate that? I don’t know. How do you regulate safety?”
At the July 20 meeting, Tolle was given the opportunity to address the 750 W intersection.
“We’ve been working on some safety action plans for quite a few years,” said Tolle. “This was a study of different intersections and thoroughfares that were considered high traffic or high incident areas. We completed this in February 2025, and it did a deep dive in the intersections in the county, the city, and even the state intersections.”
Tolle said Howard County was compared to other counties with similar layouts, and they found similarities in the number of accidents and fatalities. More importantly, it provided her office with a blueprint for accessing the funds to make changes.
“The whole point of this is to help us apply for federal grants for safety funds to improve some of these intersections in the future,” said Tolle.
She explained that she is working with the Howard County Sheriff’s Office to come up with solutions, but there are 23 different intersections in the county that account for 10 percent of all incidents. These intersections, termed “the most dangerous” by Tolle, are being studied.
“The top intersection that is the most dangerous for the county is Smith Road and Davis Road, which I don’t think is any surprise to any of us,” said Tolle. “We started a study on that one about six months ago. We have a traffic specialist who is looking at some different options, whether that’s complete reconstruction of the intersection or whether that’s maybe just some minor improvements. We’re going to try to figure that out.”
Tolle said the 750 W intersection ranks seventh on the most dangerous list. There were other, more dangerous, intersections scheduled to be studied first, but she moved the intersection up the list as the commissioners’ request. She believes that study can be completed quickly and a solution offered within months.
She also pointed out that the enhanced stop signs cited by Dodd already are in place at the 750 W intersection, including a flashing light for southbound traffic.
“If we keep throwing things out there, it becomes more of a distraction than an improvement,” said Tolle. “I want to make sure that we do the improvement quickly, but also correctly the first time. We can’t just, out of emotion, try to assess these intersections.”
Offering other solutions, Tolle pointed out that Howard County has a higher-than-average incidence of unrestrained occupants in vehicle accidents. She suggested that wearing a seatbelt would reduce the number of injuries and fatalities.
“But number one thing that I would suggest to the public is put your phones down,” said Tolle. “Eliminate as many distractions as you possibly can. That is the thing I see on most incidents: distracted driving. Two is speed. Note your speed. Note the speed limits and keep to those speed limits. They’re there for a reason. And at stop signs, look, and then look again.”
The commissioners also considered an ordinance to address the intersection of 850 E and 50 S. According to Commissioner Brad Bray, the installation of a new athletics facility at the southeast corner of the intersection will cause concerns with children crossing 850 E with speeding motorists and no crosswalk.
“(Greentown) contacted me about this, and they said that motorists coming from the north, going south, they blow through there at 60 miles an hour,” said Bray.
Tolle introduced the ordinance, which will aggressively redesign the intersection to improve safety.
“We need a way for students to cross those roads safely, so we propose making that into a three-way stop,” said Tolle. “Every direction would stop, and that would allow us to put a crosswalk on the north leg of that intersection to allow those students to cross at a fully stop-controlled intersection.”
Tolle also noted that the township trustees serving the Greentown area agreed to fund the construction of a sidewalk along the west side of 850 E that would allow children to walk safely from Eastern school facilities to the athletic complex.
“We’ll have stop signs on both directions for southbound, which is the new stop for that intersection,” said Tolle. “We’re going to work with the town and with the school as well to make sure that everybody is aware.”
Tolle said the push is on to make changes to the intersection before school starts in August. In passing the ordinance, Bray added that the next step to address traffic on 850 E is to lower the speed limit to 30 mph north of the intersection.