Motorists driving in school zones around Fishers will have flashing speed limit signs, but it won’t happen anytime soon.  The Board of Public Works and Safety Monday approved a Local Public Agency contract with the Indiana Department of Transportation, with the state providing 90% of the funding for the signs, and Fishers picking up the remaining 10%.

City Director of Engineering Jeff Hill told board members he anticipates bids to be accepted in early 2018, with the signs installed in 2019 or 2020.  The signs will be programmed to flash only when school speed limits are in place, generally while school is in session.

Hill said his department is looking at standardizing the school speed limits around the city.

During the Monday session, the board also approved “Plant a Tree” grant recipients, and passed a field use agreement between City of Fishers and Fishers Soccer Inc. (also known as Indy Premier Soccer Club).

It was picture-perfect weather for the Fishers City Hall Open House Monday evening.  Most city departments had people, demonstrations and equipment on hand for the youngsters to try.  Construction equipment and snow plows were popular, but nothing can beat getting up close and personal with fire trucks and police cars.

Continue reading City Hall Open House Draws Families Downtown →

When I sat down to record a podcast with the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) “North of 96th” reporter Lindsey Erdody May 16th, we talked about a number of issues related to Fishers and Hamilton County.  One issue we discussed was the future of the Nickel Plate Rail line.  Lindsey said she was working on a story for the IBJ print edition.  You can listen to the podcast at this link.

Lindsey’s story about the Nickel Plate Rail line has now been published.  She does her research and talks to a number of people involved in the debate.

You can read Lindsey’s story at this link.   Note that if you are not an IBJ subscriber, you may be limited in accessing this story.  But you can always buy a print edition of the IBJ.

(This article from the Hamilton County Reporter newspaper is provided under a partnership agreement between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com.  You can have the Reporter sent to your e-mail inbox free of charge daily at this link.)

By

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

The Hamilton County Highway Department has released the details of its road improvement plans for the current construction season. Work is already underway on replacing five small bridge structures in the northern portion of the county.

In the south, there is good news for the residents of Delaware Township’s Lynnwood Hills subdivision where virtually all the streets are scheduled for asphalt resurfacing.

Sections of several other roads will be resurfaced including most of 246th Street between Ind. 37 and Crooked Creek Road in White River and Jackson Townships, Joliet Road from 156th Street to 186th Street in Washington Township, and short sections of 106th Street in Delaware Township between Allisonville Road and Hague Road.

Major intersection improvements are planned at Allisonville Road and Cumberland Road where a roundabout will be built, and at 136th Street and Prairie Baptist Road where a 3-way intersection will be upgraded.

Two walking trails are included in the highway’s plans. Riverwalk from Logan Street south to Maple Ave will be completed this year, and a paved pathway on the north side of 146th from Herriman Blvd. to River Road will also be completed in July

The year’s largest project cost-wise in the continuation of the dual lane 146th Street from Ditch Road to Towne Road. The ultimate goal is to take the four lane road to the Boone County line where that county is improving the major thoroughfare to U.S. 421.

Another major project is the rebuilding of 276th Street from U.S. 31 to the Webster Pit Road. Next year a second phase will take the new roadway east to Ind. 19 thus making an improved east-west link between 19 and 31.

Present plans call for asphalt resurfacing of just over 14 miles of county highway. If increased state funds provided by this year’s legislature arrive this summer, more miles of resurfacing will be added to the county improvement plans.

A number of secondary county roads which have a chip-and-seal surface will be resealed as needed. Exact locations have not yet been established. The county maintains more than 650 miles of roads. All have a hard surface.

The list is long for road construction in the upcoming week around Fishers.  Note the first item below, about the closures tied to this weekend’s Geist Marathon.

The full list, provided by the City of Fishers, is below:

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GEIST HALF MARATHON CLOSURES

Road restrictions for the Geist Half Marathon will begin as early as 12:00am on Saturday, May 20.  All events begin at 7:00am and finish by 11:00am. Road restrictions will consist of partial road closures (participants will be running on one half of the road around most of the course), although some roads will be temporarily closed. Please be aware that alternate routes may need to be taken. For more information on specific street closures, visit www.geisthalf.com/road-closures.

BROOKS SCHOOL ROAD

Milestone Contractors plans to close the Brooks School Road bridge over Interstate 69 for construction after Memorial Day. The overpass is scheduled to close starting May 30 to rebuild the bridge deck. During the closure, traffic will be detoured to Promise Road via 126th and 136th streets.

116TH STREET

There will be lane restrictions on 116th Street between I-69 and Cumberland Road throughout the summer in order for the contractor to make improvements to 116th Street.

106TH STREET

There will be lane restrictions on 106th Street from Eller Road to I-69 the week of May 15 while a contractor locates utilities under the roadway. There will be arrow boards and flaggers in place while work is being performed between 9am and 3pm. There will be lane restrictions on Allisonville Road as well while the contractor works in this intersection.

NORTH STREET

North Street will be restricted to one lane at Maple Street while crews connect to sanitary and water lines.

GEIST ROAD

Geist Road between 106th Street and 111th Street will have possible lane restrictions while contractors perform shoulder work along the west side of Geist Road.

USA PARKWAY

There will be lane restrictions on USA Parkway while crews are resurfacing the roadway.  Flaggers will be in place directing traffic.

106TH AND CUMBERLAND ROAD ROUNDABOUT

There will be possible lane restrictions around the roundabout while the contractor finishes up work.

I-69 AND CAMPUS PARKWAY

Milestone Contractors has begun mobilizing cranes and other equipment and setting a temporary concrete barrier wall along I-69 at Campus Parkway Exit 210. Work will require alternating lane closures on northbound and southbound I-69 between 9pm and 6pm Lane closures may recur each night through the end of the week depending on weather and progress. Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT at eastcentralin@indot.in.gov or 1-855-463-6848.

126TH STREET

There will be periodic lane restrictions between 9am and 3pm on 126th Street between Allisonville Road and Lantern Road while the contractor installs passing blisters near Reserve at Lantern. Flaggers will be on site to direct traffic during the restrictions.

ALLISONVILLE ROAD

There will be lane restrictions on northbound and southbound Allisonville Road from 126th Street to 131st Street between 9am and 3pm all week.  There will be flaggers and barrels onsite to help direct traffic. Please drive with caution.

STATE ROAD 37

Construction contractors plan to shift State Road 37 traffic lanes this weekend for a $1.5 million drainage structure construction project between 146th Street and Greenfield Avenue in Noblesville. Northbound lanes are scheduled to be shifted on Friday night, and southbound lanes are scheduled to be shifted Saturday night. Single-lane closures in each direction will be scheduled between 9pm and 6am.

The first phase of construction, which starts this weekend, will shift two lanes in each direction toward the right shoulders to provide room for construction in the median. The second phase will shift traffic toward the median to allow construction to be completed along the outside shoulders. All work on the project is expected to be complete this summer.

Starting May 1, geotechnical drilling will begin along the State Road 37 corridor as part of the final design phase of State Road 37 Improvement Project. Lane and shoulder restrictions will be active through the June 30.

Motorists will see staked locations along the corridor starting with the 141st Street intersection. The geotechnical drilling will cause lane restrictions from 131st Street through 146th Street through June 30. Southbound restrictions will not begin until 9am daily and northbound restrictions will be done daily before 4pm to allow for maximum traffic flow during peak hours.

State Road 37 turn lanes will not be affected during lane closures and crews will maintain a minimum of one through-lane at all times.

The SR37 improvement project is a $124 Million joint project between Fishers, Hamilton Co, Noblesville, and INDOT. Questions or concerns may be directed to drivefishers@fishers.in.us.

A revision to The Yard culinary development agreement was delayed by the Town Hall Building Corporation to May 23rd, after board President Darrin Boyd voiced a number of concerns about the city’s agreement with Thompson Thrift.

Mr. Boyd peppered Fishers Economic Development Director Brandon Dickinson with a series of questions about the financial arrangements contained in the deal.  The issue before the corporation board was an adjustment to the agreement, lowering the initial projection of the city’s contribution to the project from $7 million down to $6.35 million.

At one point during the discussion, Mr. Boyd suggested that he make a telephone call to City Council member Rick Block, because Mr. Block is someone involved in commercial real estate development, but Mr. Boyd did not make that call during the meeting Thursday. Councilman Block recused himself from voting on the same measure before the Building Corporation. City council members approved the change in the city’s agreement with Thompson Thrift Monday night unanimously.  In the end, the Building Corporation Board decided to delay the vote.

“I’m not here to stop development,” said Boyd.  “I’m here to further understand and just get confidence behind what I’m doing, versus, in a period of an hour-and-a-half meeting, signing something worth $6.35 million going out the door and my name’s on it.”

Fellow board member Julie McKinney agreed with Mr. Boyd to delay the decision to a meeting Wednesday, May 23rd.  A third board seat is currently vacant.

In the same meeting, the corporation board approved an agreement to maintain the Switch Building parking garage, and okayed an agreement with a local tech company, Flexware, to install some experimental technology at the Switch garage in helping motorists find vacant parking spaces.

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  Previous versions of this story stated City Councilman Rich Block voted in favor of The Yard contract change Monday night.  That was incorrect.  Mr. Block recused himself.  LarryInFishers regrets the error)

Even in a generally well-to-do suburban area such as Fishers, there are families struggling to make ends meet.  Over 3,000 Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Corporation students utilize the free and reduced lunch program during the school year.

But when summer vacation begins, the needs of those students continue, even when school is not in session.  As a result, several organizations in Delaware, Fall Creek and Wayne Townships have come together and are working to provide breakfast and lunch food for these students.

The families choosing to participate in the program applied through their school counselors.  Bags of food will be distributed weekly to these families, with the menus provided by the HSE Food Service Department.

The Fishers Youth Assistance Program, HSE Food Service Department, Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank, Partnerships for a Healthy Hamilton County, Saint Louis DeMontfort Catholic Church, and township trustees from all three townships comprising HSE Schools are working together to make this food distribution happen .

Others contributing to the Summer Lunch program include:

HSE Community School System

Hamilton Hills Church

Fishers Rotary

Clarksville Christian Church

Fishers Methodist Church

United Way of Hamilton County

Fishers Police Dept.

Fishers Parks and Rec

Fishers Newcomers

Fishers Youth Assistance

Heartland Church

Geist Christian Church

Exchange Club of Fishers

If you would like to help the Summer Lunch program as a volunteer and/or donate, you can do so at this link.

We had been warned it was coming, and now we know when – the Brooks School Road bridge over I-69, just south of 136th Street, will be closed for maintenance beginning May 30th.  Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) officials say crews will rebuild the bridge deck. During the closure, traffic will be detoured to Promise Road via 126th and 136th streets.  The bridge is scheduled to reopen in August, in time for the start of school.

In another local INDOT update, construction workers reopened the I-69 Exit 210 ramp early Wednesday morning after transforming the interchange into a double-crossover diamond traffic pattern.  However, construction on that interchange will continue.  When work began, INDOT said construction would be complete by July 4th.  Now, INDOT is saying road work there will end “later this summer.”  To view the video on how a double-crossover diamond interchange works, use this link.

It’s graduation time, and some Fishers High School seniors are demonstrating their support for a graduate protesting the cost of an official cap & gown.  Noah Alderton did what many people do these days – he went online to find a better deal for his graduation cap & gown.

He did find a less expensive alternative online, only to discover that the school corporation has a deal with the Herff Jones company to supply the only official cap and gown for Fishers High School’s graduation ceremony.

Alderton now says he will be in the audience for this year’s graduation, but will not walk with his classmates to protest the cost of the graduation uniform.

A protest was held Wednesday to support Noah Alderton.

You can find the full story from WTHR reporter David MacAnally at this link.

Here is my second podcast with the IBJ’s North of 96th reporter, Lindsey Erdody.  We talked about local business issues with some politics mixed-in.