Yes this project is important and it is good that it is being done but remember, it won’t start for THREE years. This is a project that needed to be finished last year, not 10 years in the future.

The Spring Mill idea is very similar to what I had in mind.

Anon, in fact it has been the local roads in Hamilton County that have received the most improvements: Old Meridian, 116th St. 146th St., Hazeldell Parkway, etc, etc. etc. Those communities have used their own money to quickly get projects done while the state frankly did little. Marion County, which is nearly broke, is a different county. Major Moves is really changing the game from an INDOT perspective, of course, but this represents the first significant investment by the state in Indiana’s fastest growing region in 15-20 years.

What irks me is how it seems as if INDOT is doing just the absolute minimum for this project. I would have liked a higher capacity interchange at I-465 and US 31.

And there are many roads in Hamilton and northern Marion Counties that need to be widened but since they aren’t state or federal highways, there is no money for their upgrade.

I think the interfacing of Meridian, I-465, US-31, 96th, and 106th needs to be radically re-examined. I do like the idea of a “Michigan Left” here, but I also wonder about lateral access possibilities. What if the Spring Mill overpass were a 5-lane SPUI or 4-lane roundabout teardrop, and that provided the access to 96th St., Spring Mill, Meridian St., and Illinois St.? That would ease congestion/weaving at 96th and Meridian, and 96th is already 4-lane between Spring Mill and Meridian. Spring Mill/103rd I believe is planned as a roundabout, constructed to divert traffic to Illinois/103rd. Coupled with a Pennsylvania Pkwy. slip ramp, this seems like a fairly equitable solution to the traffic problem presented by the configuration of the present roadways.

I also feel that since the US31 routing follows 465, southbound Meridian should be treated as an exit, with the mainlines continuing to 465.

Another possible solution would be to pull a Keystone at 96th St. and do a grade-separated roundabout interchange here.

Overall, though, I agree that this project receives an overall grade of B-, maybe a C+. That isn’t bad for INDOT, because I usually give them low Cs to Ds in overall execution.

A grass median is often a source of ROW for future lane expansions. However, if that is a concern here, it would be easy enough to leave the room on the outside. I do not like grass medians in urban areas because I don’t consider them as safe as an enclosed median.

While normally I decry the loss of access to a major road from a well-used intersection, in this case I’ll make an exception and say, “Hooray!” to the idea of closing access to 31 from Carmel Dr. I think my co-workers would feel similarly. That intersection is badly clogged at the usual times of day, so much that the roundabout at Illinois St. is backed up. 90% of the time, if I must take Carmel Dr., I am going into Carmel proper. The rest of the time, I avoid the intersection by following Illinois to 116th or 136th to get onto NB 31. Dropping access to 31 at Carmel Dr. will speed access to and from Carmel, and will not hinder access to 31.

It pains me to hear you suggest a 4-lane Spring Mill Road over I-465, but I suppose it is inevitable. Spring Mill Road’s charm is that it feels like a country road. The redbud was spectacular along the stretch from just over the overpass north to about 111th this year. (I took a couple photos for my blog.)

Spring Mill is an old road, there long before Meridian St. extended north over the canal. I’ve seen an 1855 plat map that showed it. There’s enough of a preservationist in me to say that its country charm should not be further disturbed. But I can also foresee a time when, charming or not, it will carry sufficient volume to warrant 4 lanes.