Land Too Expensive
Sometimes land can be too expensive and time-consuming, forcing a road project around it.
Q. Why didn't the city/county buy or take by eminent domain the BP gas station that sits within the triangle of Getz Road, Covington Road and Jefferson Boulevard? - E-mail from Gerry, Fort Wayne.
A. Good question, Gerry, and one I assume several others have asked as they drive past this congested intersection, which has only become worse during the construction.
But the reason for not buying the gas station is a good one as well. According to Shan Gunawardena, the city's traffic engineer, at the time the plans for the project were being developed the owners of the BP station were not interested in selling.
Gunawardena said using eminent domain would have been costly and would have required environmental permits and mitigation work to remove the underground gasoline tanks and subsequent cleaning of the area. The project was designed to minimize the effect on this commercial area of the city, and so the city did not pursue buying the property. The work is set to be completed in November.
-Hail, Hail! We finally have a governmental agency that recognizes it should not buy what it cannot afford!
