That gas station at 31 and 28, Day’s Marathon, also reports an increase of sales, which isn’t overly surprising considering it’s the first service station available to motorists heading south after exiting the new bypass.
“It’s helped some, but it’s hard to tell how much the bypass has to do with it with the Chrysler plant opening up behind us, too,” co-owner Mike Day said. “I can’t really tell for sure why, but it is better. It started when the bypass opened, but it’s continually getting better, so you know a lot of it has to do with the plant.”
The news of positive feedback sat well with Sparks.
“That’s encouraging,” he said. “I assumed, at best, sales numbers would be flat. We think the survey in early fall will give us an even better feel for the situation.”
INDOT conducted a study when the plans for the new bypass were still in their infancy which concluded nearly 80 percent of traffic on 931 came from adjacent counties including Tipton, Miami and Cass — local residents using the road for employment commutes and shopping. As a result, it shouldn't come as major shock that business has remained mostly steady.
“I doubt there were many [businesses] overly dependent on trucker traffic," mayor Greg Goodnight said. "What myself and other people have noticed is a shift of heavy trucks to 31, which has freed up 931 for a little more fluid traffic patterns.
"I think we're seeing now what the effects are," Goodnight added. "People are getting used to their commuting patterns."
One faction of business that appears to be hindered, even if slightly, is hotels, which may seem logical considering passer-through traffic is now diverted away from the developed parts of the city.
Days Inn general manager Darren Patel says numbers are “down some” since November, but like most others who reported sales increases, added other mitigating circumstances may be to blame.
“It is attributed to the bypass alone? No,” Patel said. “I would say, though, that until they get used to the bypass, it throws people off.”
For example, certain types of clients who normally would use hotels, such as what Patel referred to as “snowbirds,” retirement-aged travelers heading south during colder weather, failed to use local hotels in their return travels in early spring.
“There was a noticeable difference in the March and April months when people are starting to come back.” Patel said. “Two of my worst months I’ve had, compared to year over year, were March and April. We’ll see how the fall does when they start going back down. I expect I will see a little better business then, but I expected to take a little bit of a hit this time around because some people hadn’t realized just yet which ramp to take to reach hotels like this one. That’s what confuses the heck out of people.”
Commercial signs before the on and off ramps for the new bypass could help alleviate the confusion, Patel feels.
“There should be a board which explains ‘all the hotels are on this section, you don’t need to take the bypass,’” he explained. “You don’t need to stay on 31 for that, you can get off there, and then it’s the old travels people are used to with a choice of hotels.”
However, no plan is in the works for such a sign. Commercial signs will be placed along the individual exits on the new bypass for restaurants and hotels which qualify, not at the on and off ramps at the north and south entrances to the new bypass.
“That becomes a challenge for me in the sense of do I advertise on [those commercial billboards]?” Patel said. “I’m looking out for my own interests, but really if there were signs at each end, even just a billboard and not an INDOT sign, that said, ‘For hotels, take the 931 exit,’ I think it would clarify things for all the travelers who want to use Kokomo.”
The fear of businesses failing due to lack of traffic along 931 hasn’t slowed the real estate market. Wyman Group president Paul Wyman says interest, like retail business, has remained steady.
“I’m not surprised by it at all,” Wyman said. “The new bypass has considerable zoning requirements. The overlay district they’ve put along the bypass has created a situation where we’re not going to have a mass exodus from 931 out to the new bypass. I think it was a very smart move that will make for very controlled growth along the new bypass. I think that will be good for the future.”
At the same time, Wyman hopes to see continued growth along 931, as well.
“My hope is the old bypass still remains a solid business corridor for our community,” he said. “I think it’ll be the destination for new business. And, out on the new bypass, we hope to see things that are larger-type deals such as a company’s distribution center.”
Sparks made a similar point. Along with the strong retail business, many of Kokomo’s major employers, such as Chrysler and Delphi, have a presence along 931. From an economic standpoint, it is the Alliance’s hope similar types of businesses will pop up along the new bypass.
“A lot of the disposable income that supports the service sector and the retail sector is coming from that [931] corridor,” Sparks said. “It’s important that whatever type of development that would occur on the new bypass adds wealth to the community, [and] that we focus on primary employers for the new bypass, companies that will generate new disposable income and not just shift wealth around within the community.”
Since the moratorium on development was lifted for the new road at the turn of the year, Goodnight said interest from businesses wanting to build at the bypass intersections has been very limited and more retail than industry in nature. There are also no current plans to attract truck-stop type of business.
"You don't want retail to lead the future development," Goodnight explained. "You want it to follow a major investment, if that ever occurs. To say [a truck stop] will never be out there? No, but you just don't want that to lead development."
Having annexed the land which includes the bypass intersections and exits, Goodnight said the city hopes to prevent any increase to taxpayers as far as cost to maintain government with new development.
He pointed out there are several large parcels of land inside the city which remain undeveloped, and wants to make sure any shift in development occurs within Kokomo's current major business corridors such as the ones along Washington and Lafountain streets, Boulevard, Lincoln Road and 931 before considering the land along the new bypass.
"If the right project came along and there wasn't enough available acreage in some of the industrial areas we have inside the city, we would obviously look at giving some special consideration," Goodnight added. "But, that's not the case at this point."