There’s good and bad news for motorists and businesses along Range Line Road in Carmel.
The good news is that the 4th Street roundabout is open. It will lead into a new road that connects to the future Allied Solutions headquarters along the Monon Trail in Midtown. The new 4th Street extension — an east-west road that crosses the Monon and provides another entry point to the area — will be open in approximately two weeks or sooner.
The bad news is that Range Line Road is now closed south of the new roundabout. A 30-day road closure has begun at Executive Drive to build a roundabout in front of Kroger. The new roundabout will help connect motorists traveling to the future mixed-used development The Proscenium, which is where Arby’s and the Party Time Rental were once located. During the closure, the city will add multi-use paths and medians to proceed with a transformation of Range Line Road into a two-lane street. The city’s “road diet” is a strategy to expedite traffic flow while maximizing use for pedestrians and cyclists.
Still, there’s more good news: Josh Kirsh, an administrator in the city’s engineering department, said when Executive Drive is complete there will be a break from road construction on Range Line until spring 2018. When the weather warms up again, construction crews will attempt to consecutively complete three roundabouts along Range Line by the end of 2018: 6th Street, Medical Drive and 116th Street. Kirsh said the goal is to add medians and multi-use paths during roundabout construction to avoid any inconvenience.
When those roundabouts are complete, Kirsh said Range Line will be mostly finished.
Now that the 4th Street roundabout is finished, the Carmel Arts & Design District archway, which was removed for construction, will be installed south of the roundabout. No date is set, but there shouldn’t be a road closure when it happens. Kirsh said there might be a one-day closure when a crane is brought in to add the archway’s top beam.
The city expects to open the new roundabout at S. Guilford Road and City Center Drive Oct. 20. The 126th Street and Gray Road roundabout should open in Mid-November.
