The County Line
Noblesville is rapidly joining other cities in adopting the roundabout method of handling traffic at increasingly busy intersections. Three more roundabouts are planned in the city during the next two years.
Roundabouts were once controversial, but in recent years the driving public has appeared to become acclimated to the relatively new concept in traffic control.
No fewer than ten roundabouts have been built in the rapidly growing commercial and residential areas east of State Road 37, but until recently there were almost none in the so-called old city.
But, this year traffic circles opened on 10th Street, to the north at Cumberland Road and on the south at Greenfield Avenue. Technically, the one at Cumberland is a county, not a city, project.
To the northwest, a roundabout is now found at Carrigan and Hague roads. Now the city plans another at 19th and Pleasant streets for next year. Then, in 2019 two more will be under construction at Field Drive and Cumberland and at Greenfield Avenue and Howe Road. These projects for 2018-19 are being paid 80 percent with Metropolitan Planning (MPO) funds and 20 percent local funds.
Of course, other communities in Hamilton County have been rapidly building the now-common traffic circles since about 2000. Carmel claims to be the national leader in roundabouts with more than 100 and more are underway. Westfield and Fishers also have numerous roundabouts at major intersections.
Noblesville city officials have received generally favorable reviews on the recently opened roundabout at what was called the ‘five-points’ intersection of South 10th, Greenfield Avenue and Christian Avenue.
By 2020, motorists can expect to find elevated interchanges, a type of hybrid roundabout, on State Road 37 south to I-69. This huge project, financed largely with state funds, is designed to better move traffic on the extremely busy highway.