Crossvine Solar: Residents push commissioners on road safety, more

Dubois County Commissioners voted to allow a two-week closure of County Road 500 West between 750 South and 900 South to accommodate underground utility work for the AES Crossline Solar project during their meeting on Monday.

The closure will enable AES to complete boring operations for underground electrical lines, with work planned to continue 24 hours a day for up to two weeks. The company had originally received permits for the work but resubmitted them due to the addition of four pits and a modification that changed one road crossing from perpendicular to skewed.

Dubois County Engineer Levi Leffert brought the road closure request before the Board of Commissioners on behalf of Crossvine Solar in May. The requested road closure followed the company’s encounter of issues with plans for a continuous 2,100-foot bore that had been previously approved in 2023. To accommodate the issues they ran into, they will be adding boring and receiving pits, or holes dug at intervals, allowing crews to push the boring equipment through in sections and pull the utility lines up.

One of the underground crossings beneath the road was originally planned at a 90-degree angle, but due to issues encountered and revised plans, Crossvine proposed changing it to a skewed angle so they could more effectively pull the line through the boring and receiving pits during installation.

Leffert explained that to accomplish the skewed boring under the road, AES was seeking permission to close a portion of 500 West for approximately two weeks from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

While no physical cuts would be made to the road surface itself, the nature of the boring operation requires the use of both boring and receiving pits within the right-of-way, and the existing road width simply does not leave enough room for equipment to operate safely alongside moving traffic, according to Leffert.

He emphasized that he was not making a recommendation either way, but felt that a two-week closure was significant enough to bring before the commissioners rather than approve it on his own.

During the May meeting, Commissioner Chad Blessinger raised concerns about the impact on residents, questioning what benefit Dubois County would receive from closing a public road for a private company’s construction work, and noting that Crossvine has not handled traffic safety well throughout the project.

At Monday’s meeting, Leffert presented two options to two commissioners (Commissioner Chad Blessinger was absent), explaining that the alternative would be maintaining single-lane traffic through the work zone.

“One concern with maintaining traffic through the work zone is the increased exposure between the traveling public and construction operations, which increases the potential for an accident,” Leffert said. “While a full closure would create inconvenience and potentially increase travel times for motorists, it is generally a safer option.”

The approved detour route will use US 231, which Leffert confirmed now has two lanes of traffic after restrictions from recent bridge work were removed.

The commissioner’s approval came with several conditions, including proper signage and barricades, maintaining emergency access, and ensuring that at least one access point remains available to property owners. The work must not impact school bus routes for any summer classes.

Several residents voiced strong opposition to the closure during public comment, citing ongoing safety concerns and property damage from construction traffic.

“I believe safety is probably our number one priority here,” Commissioner Nick Hostetter said as several residents in attendance spoke up during the discussion. “I would agree a two-week road closure is probably the safest option.”

He then moved to approve the closure; Commissioner Serice Stenftenagel seconded, and it was approved.

During public comment at the end of the meeting, several residents spoke about safety concerns and issues with the project.

Amanda Harris, who lives on County Road 500, expressed frustration that residents are “making sacrifices for the handful of landowners who signed leases for this.” She reported multiple near-miss incidents involving construction vehicles and criticized the lack of response to safety complaints.

“I have been almost hit head-on multiple times. One of my children that just started driving has almost gotten wrecked multiple times,” Harris said.

She voiced frustration at the lack of response from local law enforcement and county officials after reporting safety issues.

“I’m calling 911 and we’re calling dispatch,” she told commissioners. “Nobody comes out.”

She said that though commissioners have stated they are available to be contacted by phone or email, they have not responded to her emails. “I’ve never got a response back. Except for Chad (Blessinger) and he told me that he doesn’t have time to contact me every time I have an issue,” she said.

The attending commissioners did not respond to her statement, and Blessinger was not in attendance to comment.

Regarding the road closure, resident Jason Heile questioned why the utility lines cannot be installed on the opposite side of the road, where the solar project has easement rights. “There’s actually three utilities on the side of the road they’re going to be on. My understanding is they’re putting three electric lines in the same region. So that’s why it’s a dangerous situation because there’s no room there to build what they need to build,” Heile said.

He asked commissioners to move the line to the other side of the road rather than close the road.

Holly Bartlet Gogel told commissioners that, although they have stated they have little power to control what participating residents are doing with their properties due to the lack of zoning regulation, allowing AES to cross the road is affecting a non-participating property owner.

Resident Korinne Whitehead was scheduled to speak about the impact of vehicles on her parents’ property.

She described two incidents where construction vehicles became stuck in his parents’ driveway along County Road 750 South. The most recent incident required a wrecker and blocked traffic, preventing an insurance adjuster from reaching the property.

“My parents were expecting a visitor, an insurance guy, and he could not get into their house or into their driveway because it was blocked by a truck,” Whitehead said. “Eventually a wrecker was called, and they had to tow the truck out of my mom and dad’s driveway, and they had traffic stopped.”

Leffert acknowledged the property-damage concerns and promised to contact AES construction management regarding workers accessing private property without permission.

Commissioner Hostetter suggested residents with property damage may be entitled to compensation.

Residents also raised broader concerns about the solar project’s impact on the community. Dave Duncan questioned the adequacy of emergency response planning, citing a plume study that used three-mile-per-hour winds as a worst-case scenario for potential battery-system incidents.

He argued that the study parameters were insufficient. A statement he said was supported by a mechanical engineer with connections to the power industry, who Duncan said reviewed AES’s presentation.

Whitehead agreed. “As the regulating body, I just really, really ask you to reconsider what is happening to our county,” she said.

Commissioner Nick Hostetter mentioned that the Emergency Management Agency director has requested AES redo the plume study with more realistic worst-case wind conditions.

Commissioners indicated they will continue to monitor the situation and work with AES to address safety concerns as the project progresses.

Leffert also reported that AES has completed the installation of additional construction entrance signs and plans to install temporary speed-limit reduction signs next week, lowering the limit from 45 mph to 35 mph throughout the construction area.