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One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032
Contact: Nancy Heck
E-Mail: nheck@carmel.in.gov
Phone: (317) 571-2494
Nancy Heck
The
Department of Community Relations
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City of Carmel
One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032
News Release
Date:
March 21, 2008
Contact:
Nancy Heck
(317) 571-2494
Release:
Immediate
Carmel Unveils Final
Plans for 106th & 126th Street Interchanges of Keystone
Reconstruction Plan
Carmel, IN -
Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard unveiled the final plans for
the 106th & 126th Street interchanges of the Keystone Avenue
reconstruction project and discussed the overall
communications plan at a news conference today. Detailed
renderings were shared outlining the architectural treatment
and other elements of the new roundabout interchanges.
“The changes we are making to Keystone Avenue and the cross
streets will move traffic more efficiently and make our
community safer and more walkable. This road design also
requires less land than other traditional long-term fixes.
These benefits are coupled with reduced emissions and
reduced gas consumption because vehicles will no longer be
sitting in traffic at stop lights and intersections. There
will be no need to stop anywhere along Keystone Avenue once
this reconstruction project is completed in 2010,” said
Mayor Brainard.
In September of 2007, the State of Indiana relinquished
Keystone Avenue to the City of Carmel. At that time, the
state also agreed to pay Carmel $90 million to take over the
road, $50 million of which has already been paid. From that
time, Carmel has moved forward at an accelerated pace to
develop the necessary design documents to proceed with
construction and meet the schedule for this landmark
project.
One reason the City of Carmel wanted to assume control of
the Keystone Avenue was to make sure that the reconstruction
of the road was compatible with the surrounding residential
neighborhoods. The state had planned to add two additional
lanes to Keystone, expanding it up to eight lanes. Keystone
is already six lanes at the south end. This would only have
put more pressure on the intersections and been a short term
fix. Eventually, tight diamond interchanges would have been
needed to handle the traffic. This design would have
required the removal of several homes, churches and
businesses. For example, at 106th Street, the city’s plan
only adversely affected one commercial business, where the
traditional long-term fix would have called for the removal
of 13 structures, including homes and churches.
“In addition to taking less land, our plan also safely
connects neighborhoods on the east and west side of Keystone
via pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists. Instead of
having to cross several lanes of high speed traffic, now,
pedestrians only have to cross a couple of lanes of lower
speed traffic that will be either entering or exiting the
roundabout,” noted Mayor Brainard.
This is the first time in the
State of Indiana that a project of this magnitude will
incorporate roundabout interchanges. “Many other
governmental units, including the Indiana Department of
Transportation, are watching this project. The success of
this project could have significant impact on the
interchange design decisions on future roadway projects
around the state including the US 31 corridor improvements,”
said
City Engineer Mike McBride.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) is being released today for
this project and bids must be submitted to the City by April
9th, where they will be opened by the
Board of Public Works. The bids will then be closely
reviewed and be awarded on April 25th. The plans for each
interchange are close to 300 pages in length and are
accompanied by another 350-page book of specifications. The
Contract Documents are available through
American
Structurepoint, Inc., the engineering firm hired by
Carmel to design the project. Bidders can obtain the plans
in hard copy for a fee or on CD, free of charge.
While the contractors are putting their bids together, the
City can begin on parts of the project to prepare for
construction. Clearing some tress and planning for utility
relocations are a few of the items with which the City can
proceed immediately. Beginning as early as Monday, March
24th, clearing activities will begin at the 106th & 126th
Street intersections. The
City Urban Forestry department is involved in the
discussion of tree removal to ensure that only the trees
absolutely necessary for the construction of the roundabouts
and utility relocation are removed. The Utility relocation
process will begin sometime around Monday, April 1st.
The construction of the 106th & 126th Street interchanges
will begin in late April or early May and the new
interchanges are planned to be opened to traffic in December
of 2008. Four lanes of Keystone Avenue will be open to
traffic throughout the entire construction process. Some
temporary lane restrictions may be required for specific
construction activities, but these will be limited to
off-peak hours of the day.
While Keystone will remain open for north/south traffic
throughout the project, there will be a period of time when
the 106th & 126th will be closed to east/west traffic across
Keystone. This phase will most likely begin in June. There
will be detour routes in place to help traffic cross
Keystone at other access points during this time. Some minor
lane markings modifications and traffic signal timing
adjustments will be made along the detour route to help
facilitate the movement of detouring vehicles.
In addition to the designs for the reconstruction of the
first two intersections of the Keystone Avenue project,
Mayor Brainard discussed the communications plan that has
been created to keep the community informed. The name
“CarmelLink” has been chosen to represent the Keystone
Avenue reconstruction project. The logo will be used on
publications and other media to guide readers and viewers to
Keystone update information. Focus groups consisting of
residents and business leaders met this winter to discuss
communications issues regarding the project.
The city will use all of its regular resources to share
CarmelLink updates including the city newsletter,
Government Access Cable Channel 16 programming,
Carmel Utility bill enclosures,
Carmel Neighborhood Association Network (CNAN) and
Carmel
Small Business Network (CSBN) meetings, and links from
its website. In addition, a new website had been created
that is dedicated to the Keystone reconstruction project. It
can be accessed at
www.CarmelLink.org and it will include the latest
plans and renderings for all the aspects of the project,
timelines, detour routes, pictures, videos and publications.
It also includes a way to sign up for email notices relating
to the project.
Neighborhood Associations most closely affected by the
construction process are being contacted in order to set up
meetings to discuss the project and how it affects their
specific location. The City will also work closely with the
businesses, most of which are concentrated in the Merchants
Square area, to provide them with road detour updates in
plenty of time to send information to their customers and
suppliers.
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