Fishers City Engineering Director Jason Taylor talked about it April 1st in a podcast with me. The closure of 116th Street at the Nickel Plate Trail would start once the school year ends locally. We now have a specific date for the closure – June 1st.
The closure of the street in the heart of the downtown Fishers Nickel Plate District is required to allow the construction of a tunnel for the Nickel Plate Trail at that location. 116th Street will be closed from east of Municipal Drive to west of Maple Street during the construction. The closure is expected to last 60 days. All local business and public parking access will remain open.
There was some question as to what the official detour would look like. The city announced April 30th that 106th Street will be the recommended detour, beginning at Hague Road for eastbound thru traffic and Lantern Road for the westbound thru traffic.
As of April 30th, there are lane restrictions in place at that 116th Street location allowing utility relocation construction in anticipation of the June 1st full closure. The outside, westbound lane is closed until Thursday, May 6. Beginning May 6, lane restrictions will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through the June 1 closure.
The tunnel will complete the trail connection through downtown Fishers, joining South Street and North Street, and establishing a full connection from 106th Street to 131st Street. In 2020, paving was completed on the portions of the trail between 131st Street and North Street, and South Street to 106th Street.
The already paved portions of the trail are now open for pedestrian and bicycle access. Motorized vehicles are prohibited.
While the tunnel is under construction, a pedestrian detour route will provide access through downtown between the north and south sections of the trail. View the detour map here.
The community is invited to follow along through photos and updates during the tunnel construction at this link.