A ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the east-west lanes of 126th Street at State Road 37 will be held later this week, based on comments made Monday at a Fishers City Council work session by Mayor Scott Fadness.  126th Street at State Road 37 has been closed several months during construction of a roundabout on 126th and underpass for State Road 37.

City Engineering Department Director Jason Taylor told the council his staff, along with Hamilton County and Indiana State Highway officials, have been working together to close a $41 million budget gap.  The project was budgeted for $124 million total but a list of factors have ballooned the price tag.  Taylor detailed several measures aimed at budget cutting.

Mayor Scott Fadness expects the budget gap to go down to $36 million, with the city and county splitting the cost at $18 million each.  Fadness says he expects a 25 year bond on a previous road project to expire in 2024, allowing the city to borrow the money required to complete the State Road 37 project without any need for a tax rate increase.

The head of the Hamilton County High Department, Brad Davis, told the city council in the virtual meeting that the County Council tabled the State Road 37 budget issue previously, but Davis expects county councilors to bring the issue up again and approve the county’s share of the budget shortfall.

The work at 131st Street and State Road 37 will go out for bids later this year, with an award expected in early 2021.  The design for the 141st Street interchange is nearing completion, with that bid opening set for about one year from now.  Work has already begun at 146th Street and State Road 37, with that work expected to extend into mid 2022.