By Beth Taylor
In an effort to keep residents and businesses aware of potential developments, Hamilton County Commissioners held meetings Nov. 17 and 18 in Noblesville and Fishers to provide details and seek input on a proposed $243 million improvement to Ind. 37 that could change it to a limited-access highway featuring roundabouts instead of traffic signal intersections in the two communities.
Hamilton County, Noblesville and Fishers want a collaborative approach to dealing with traffic that will continue to worsen as the county’s population moves toward projected doubling in size by 2050.
“We have been working on finding solutions for the Ind. 37 corridor,” said Christine Altman, Hamilton County Commissioners president. “If something’s not done quickly, we will have an impossible situation in the near future. We need to figure out as elected officials and members of the community how to get this fixed.”
Altman provided scenarios that detailed ways in which the problematic corridor could be handled.
“There are three choices,” she said. “We can do nothing and the problem continues to get worse, we can take over the area locally or we can allow INDOT to maintain it and we get what they decide.”
Some business owners have expressed concern over the projected length of construction and how the roundabout proposal could affect their business. Fishers Mayor-elect Scott Fadness understands their concerns.
“We have the opportunity to be proactive and engaged,” Fadness said. “We want to talk to residents to get the best possible outcome. It’s a collaborative process to find a vision that’s befitting to Noblesville, Fishers and the entire Hamilton County community.”
A two-year study of the corridor was performed for Hamilton County, Fishers, Noblesville, INDOT and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization by United Consulting and American Structurepoint. As a part of the study, multiple alternatives were studied for the corridor. Members from the firms presented the conceptual plan proposal, which showed a roundabout interchange at each of the existing intersections as the best option.
Altman said the next step is to perform an economic impact study. After the study is completed, talks with INDOT about relinquishing the corridor will go forward. The estimated time frame for preliminary work and engineering is three years.
