More cones than ever, and not the fun kind 4.25.11

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

Wherever you drive through Central Indiana this year, it's likely your patience will be put to the test when maneuvering through one of the busiest construction seasons to date.
In Indianapolis alone, Mayor Greg Ballard says the city is making the largest investment in infrastructure improvements in the city's history. Officials have devoted $87 million this year to improving streets and sidewalks.
"The number of road construction projects planned for this year in Indianapolis is unprecedented," Ballard said. "It is going to be the busiest summer ever for road resurfacing and bridge rehabilitation in Marion County."
Indianapolis drivers won't be the only ones navigating construction zones. Dozens of projects are being planned on local roads in Fishers, Noblesville, Plainfield and other cities and towns throughout Central Indiana. Added to those potential headaches, the Indiana Department of Transportation has already said this will be its busiest and most expensive construction season to date along interstates and highways.
It's not so long ago that life was a bit more quiet.
Mimi Pearce, 46, has worked as a traffic reporter in Indianapolis for 25 years. She gets a bird's-eye view of road projects while flying high above them in a helicopter to monitor rush hours for WTHR (Channel 13) or WFMS-FM (95.5).
"Seeing the growth over those years has been amazing," Pearce said. "It used to be that you'd have two or three projects going in any given year. Now it can be hundreds."
In the suburbs, a project in Plainfield will widen County Road 300 South from Dan Jones Road to just past County Road 900 East. In Hancock County, Mount Comfort Road -- a major route called Olio Road in Hamilton County -- will be closed near U.S. 52 this summer for bridge work.
To the north, in Fishers, the town is continuing its expansion of 126th Street into a four-lane thoroughfare linking Olio with Ind. 37. Along with the past expansions of Allisonville Road and 116th Street, it's among the growing town's most ambitious projects.
"It's important because it really connects the entire town," Town Council President Scott Faultless said. "It runs from just south of I-69's Exit 10, which is a major commercial area, and it connects up with State Road 37, which is another major commercial area."
In neighboring Noblesville, the city is extending Union Chapel Road as an alternative for congested Ind. 37. Mayor John Ditslear said Union Chapel will be transformed from a little-known street to a major north-south corridor, improving traffic flow and opening hundreds of adjacent acres for development.
"It's been on the thoroughfare plan for a long time," he said. "We've been able to get her going, and we're looking forward to it."
But perhaps nowhere will the impact be felt as it will be in Indianapolis.
As things stand, city work crews will resurface 383 lane miles, repair 16 bridges and pour more than 105,000 linear feet of curbs and sidewalks, said Molly Deuberry, spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.
That includes two miles of West 38th Street from I-465 on the west to I-65 on the east. That $14 million project started in June and should wrap up in November.
Additional projects could be added to this year's lineup if regulators approve the city's utility transfer to Citizens Energy Group. The city would receive an estimated $435 million to pay for Rebuild Indy road and infrastructure projects.
Although traffic might be tougher in the short term, remember, there's light at the end of the tunnel.
"Come fall, everyone will start benefiting from all this work on main streets and in residential neighborhoods," Deuberry said. "Once we start to see that product coming out completed, we believe people will think it was worth the inconvenience."
http://www.indystar.com/article/20110425/LOCAL/104250324/-1/7daysarchives/-Unprecedented-road-work-will-worth-city-says