Meridian Street undergoing makeover 3.15.11

FOX 59

Indianapolis -It's been untouched for a decade, but soon 50 blocks on Meridian Street will be covered in orange barrels and barricades as work crews resurface one of the city's busiest streets.

Phase One will start at 38th Street and crews will work their way north. It's not just this season's potholes, but years' worth, along with the patchings. They'll all go away starting this spring. It's not just that Meridian Street is the primary north-south artery into downtown with 24,000 cars a day, or that it's in a historic district. To understand why DPW says it's time to tackle Meridian Street, just requires a drive along it.
 
"It's like negotiating a minefield, if you care about your suspension," said Butler Tarkington resident Dan Carpentar.
"I have actually had damage to my car, I had a tire that I had to have replaced by the potholes," said driver Ali Terry.

Outside of the normal pothole repairs, this stretch hasn't gotten any attention in the last decade, leaving a lot of people to avoid it altogether, especially the northbound lanes.

"We think it's time, it was made a priority and put on the Rebuild Indy infrastructure repair list, there will be some disruption, as there is with any construction, there will be lane restrictions. We'll try to make it as minimal as possible," said Department of Public Works (DPW) spokesperson Sarah Holsapple.

It's not just the streets (especially along the curb) but also the sidewalks that will be repaved. Down the line, the bridge over the White River, whose surface is seeing some major crumbling, will also get a facelift. While the work is going on, the speed limit, pending approval, will go from 40 miles per hour to 35.

"Given the importance of the street and the speed that they normally drive, it makes it all that much more treacherous," said Carpentar.

Phase Two will tackle Meridian up to 86th Street. In all, $12,000,000 will be thrown at this project on the streets and sidewalks. The work will take more than a year.
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