The City of Carmel has won a prestigious award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers for the Main Street Corridor project.
The project, completed earlier this year, featured two new roundabouts and corridor improvements in front of Carmel High School. It was designed to make Main Street safer for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, particularly Carmel High School students and users of the Carmel Clay Public Library.
The Safe System Approach Roundabout Project Award was presented during National Roundabouts Week on Tuesday during a special webinar for transportation engineers from across the country.
Kashman
“We spend a great deal of time working with expert designers and construction crews to develop projects that benefit our local residents and visitors,” City Engineer Jeremy Kashman said. “In this case, with so many pedestrians from the largest high school in the state and the library that draws about 600,000 visitors each year, the project took on an even greater importance.”
Kashman led the team on the Main Street Project. Bradley Pease, PE, Carmel Engineering Department, was the project manager; the designers included Andrew Wolf of CrossRoad Engineers, PC and Dylan Sievers of RQAW; and the contractor was White Construction.
Some of the design elements for this project included:
- Roundabouts were designed to address the safety needs of all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists, including appropriate lane widths and raised crosswalks.
- Mid-block crossings include refuge islands and rectangular rapid flashing beacons to enhance crosswalk safety.
- Traffic speed was addressed by introducing traffic-calming measures within the corridor, including more narrow lanes, street trees, a median throughout the project, the refuge islands and raised crosswalks.
Roundabouts reduce the number of accidents with injury by 47 percent, according to national studies. For more information on Carmel’s system of roundabouts, click here.