Those who live or work in Carmel or regularly drive through the community should be prepared for another season of major road construction beginning by April. A list of projects was released to city residents last week.
Within central Carmel the planned projects include seven new roundabouts which will involve at least partial road closures. With construction starting in early summer these roundabouts will be found at West Main Street and Guilford Road, 96th Street and Gray Road and 96th and Delegates Row.
Later in the summer a major roundabout will be underway at 116th Street and Range Line Road followed by others on Range Line at 6th Street S.E. and at Medical Drive, then yet another at Carmel Drive and Pennsylvania Street.
Other street construction is planned to continue in early spring on a new Monon Boulevard from Main Street to 4th Street S.W., Lowes Way from Keystone Parkway to North Range Line, and Cherry Tree Boulevard from Hazel Dell Road to River Road.
During the summer there will be a reconstruction of Guilford Road from Main Street to City Center Drive. In addition, work will continue on the massive interchange at 96th and Keystone. There will also be several miles of multi-use pathways built along major streets
With the city set on converting most major intersections to roundabouts, Mayor Jim Brainard maintains the headaches brought about by construction and temporary road closures will ultimately be worth it. The costly overall plan is to move traffic more smoothly and avoid future congestion in the community where the population is approaching 95,000.