The below update was sent to State Road 37 business owners today by the City of Fishers’ longstanding communications vendor. This news is an update following the announcement a few months ago that the completion of the 141st Street interchange (the final phase of the SR 37 Improvement Project) was delayed. Background: The City of Fishers declined the bids last summer because of high construction costs, as reported by the Indianapolis Star in this article.
Today’s New 141st Street Update
- 141st St. will be constructed as an interchange featuring the round-a-bout design with exit ramps onto east and westbound 141st from SR37 as originally planned
- Utility work has already begun and will continue through Spring 2023
- The interchange will be “let” (a new request for bids) in the Fall 2023
- The construction timeline with anticipated completion of the interchange will be announced after the bid is accepted
- An interim phase to improve traffic flow at 141st St and SR37 and prepare for further construction will be put in place as early as this December (HSE Schools’ winter break) and will be in place until the new construction begins. See below for details on this Interim Phase.
- The Hamilton Southeastern Schools and Emergency Services have been coordinated with on this interim phase and accommodations are being coordinated to minimize impacts.
The Interim Phase at 141st St and SR37 to Begin this December 2022
During this interim phase, 141st St will be transitioned to a Right-In-Right-Out (RIRO) traffic configuration. This is not the permanent configuration. This will allow for traffic to flow more freely along SR37 until the next phases of construction can be activated. This will eliminate all backups along SR37 that have caused dangerous stops to the free flow traffic and backups on the 146th street interchange. Again, this is not the permanent configuration for 141st St.
For more information, visit https://37thrives.com/updates
(This website hasn’t yet been updated with today’s update)
Mark Petersen says:
We live on the block Allisonville/Sr 37 and 146/141
2 years rt in rt out at 141 will be difficult. Especially since everyone for trying to get out of Harrison Parkway north to Sr 37, when someone is turning left (west) out of our addition on to 146 in the right lane.
We need two lanes out of Harrison parkway onto 146:
A Left/Straight lane & right turn lane only.
I believe it is wide enough for 3 lanes 1 in and 2 out.
People from other additions have been cutting three our addition since the start of the 37 project.
Ken says:
So, for those who are among the estimated 14,000 vehicles that cross over 37 each day, we are now forced to have our routines impacted for at least an extra year due to this. I can state that this will absolutely have an impact on the businesses I stop at, as my time is valuable, and much of that business is running some errands and getting some lunch in the middle of my work day.
The excuse of ‘safety’ does not fly with me as what I see is poor lane design, especially with the north bound lanes on SR37. It makes little sense to bring the left lane to an end and add a right lane as you are going past 136th street, forcing people to unnecessarily merge. Why didn’t they just have the lanes shift a bit to the right and keep the lanes in tact to help keep traffic flowing and allowing people to better see ahead?
That makes people take their attention further off what is ahead. Additionally, the left turn lane to get to 141st street is not long enough (which further emphasizes how many vehicles utilize the ability to make that left turn). That is typically where I’ve seen people having to slam on their brakes as it backs up the whole way into the lanes for going straight.
So, why isn’t the money being spent to inconvenience people for at least a whole EXTRA year (assuming they even finish the project in the first place) being spent on fixing these two issues, which to me, would be far less. (A bit of paint for the lanes, and some pavement to extend the turn lane.)
With this decision by the city, I hope we have some good alternatives in the primary, because I am not inclined to vote for any of the incumbents.