Project 37

37 Thrives brings big change

Local road remodelling a ects residens in several waysLocal road remodelling a ects residents in several ways

Veda Thangudu thangved000@hsestudents.org Veda Thangudu thangved000@hsestudents.org

Construction continues at 146th Street-SR37 in Fishers on Sept. 27. The result would be an overpass that goes over SR 37. Photo by Veda Thangudu.

In recent months, construction work is going on all around Fishers, mainly Noblesville. Based on tra c studies, designers, engineers and the mayor’s o ce involved, all the way up to 146th St. e rst tra c light that they will encounter is up on Green eld focused on State Road 37 (SR 37) and Interstate 69 (I-69). Initiated by Drive Fishers, it aims to make Fishers a better place in terms of tra c. “Before the construction, there were a lot of tra c problems,” City of Fishers assistant director of engineering Hatem Mekky said. “ e decision of the construction came up when all of our tra c studies on how we can improve the tra c going from I-69 to the city of this project was initiated with partnership with the locals.” Roundabouts at SR 37 - 126th St. are the rst phase of the project. It broke ground in September 2019. “ ere used to be a lot of backup on I-69 before, but now since 126th St. was open, you don’t see a lot of backup; you see a lot of constant ow,” Mekky said. “As the project progresses and nishes, a lot of SR 37 tra c will go smoothly from 126th St. Avenue, Noblesville.” e construction at 126th St. is completed. Ongoing work at 131st, 135th and 146th Streets are scheduled to be completed by summer 2022, when the work on 146th St. would begin. “Project 37 rives is set up to open all of the interchanges in 2023,” Mekky said. “We are on schedule for the nal project, on 141st St.; we haven’t started construction there yet. We are scheduled to advertise that in

February 2022.” According to statistica. com, the United States has 73 roundabouts per one million inhabitants. One of this project’s purposes is to increase the safety and e ciency of SR 37 by improving bicycle and pedestrian mobility. “ ere has been a lot of public acceptance of the project,” Mekky said. “ ere was a lot of skepticism before on how it is going to be built and impact SR 37. We’ve been out there in front of the businesses before the construction, during the construction and a er the construction to address their concerns.” As of Sept. 30, the west side of 131st St. is currently closed as work continues on the SR 37 interchange. Junior Gri n Chesebrough believes that the construction will allow better access to roads, but also sees the current problems it brings. “To get to other areas a er school is mainly a ected,” Chesebrough said. “In the long term, it will be good, because if we have that road where people could go at once and it’s not that stoplight, that would be e cient use of the roads and people can get to their destination quicker. But in the short term, it’s obviously hurting people. With most construction, people have to wait.” is project commenced a er collaboration with the cities of Fishers and Noblesville, Hamilton County and the Indiana Department of Transportation. “I’d like to mention how well the city of Fishers and Hamilton County have been in communicating with us and helping us through the process,” said omas Duncan, Transportation and Routing director at HSE School District.“ It’s greatly appreciated. For the most part, it’ll help our buses get somewhere a little bit faster.”

Construction continues at 131st Street-SR37 in Fishers on Sept. 24, 2021. To make the intersection have better tra c ow. Photo by Veda Thangudu.