By ADAM PINSKER
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Beginning April 1, Indiana Department of Transportation will close most of State Roads 32 and 38 through downtown Noblesville, weather permitting.
The work on the road known locally as Conner Street will span from just west of SR 37, over the White River to the SR 38/Sheridan Road roundabout.
Crews will need to remove brick that lies beneath the surface of the road. Kyleigh Cramer, a spokesperson for INDOT, says the brick has been there for more than 100 years.
“This brick needs to be taken away,” Cramer said. “It’s not a good foundation for the road. Back then, they just put a road on top of it, and now we are getting in there and completely reconstructing it.”
If the project remains on schedule, the road work will be done by the end of 2024. Detour signs will be going up in the next couple weeks.
Drivers can expect most of downtown to be closed off to traffic, but the sidewalks will remain open.
“We will be maintaining a lot of alleyways, backstreets, things of that nature, so that will also allow folks to be able to park there,” Cramer said.
INDOT officials have been working closely with local authorities to make sure the state’s detours don’t conflict with a Hamilton County Highway Department project, the closure of 146th Street and Allisonville Road. Allisonville Road last week was closed as Superior Construction Co. crews build a new roundabout and put a new deck on the White River bridge. That project could be completed in June.
Jill Dolak owns Noblesville Antiques on the Square. The store sits on Ninth Street on the Hamilton County Courthouse Square, and the square’s south border is SR 32/38. Dolak doesn’t think the road construction will discourage her loyal customers.
“I think that it’s necessary,” Dolak said. “I think that it’s inevitable. I think you have a lot of projects that have just decided that they are going to collide at one time.”
Another massive construction project could also be on the horizon for southern Hamilton County: INDOT is issuing a request for proposals on the Interstate 465 and U.S. 31 interchange.
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county-braces-for-more-road-work.