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Dear Editor:
It’s great to see the City of Noblesville partnering with INDOT on road improvement projects, especially downtown. The roundabouts at the two intersections of SR32/38 and SR32/River Road are a much better idea than INDOT’s plan from a few years ago, which sought to increase the speed of traffic between them by widening 32 and re-aligning the intersections. The goal, instead, should be to keep traffic flowing steadily but slowly through our downtown and this seems to head that direction.
The stretch of 32 between the hospital and the river also needs work. INDOT seems focused on a single goal: To move car traffic as quickly as possible through town. That often conflicts with the city’s goal to maintain and grow a commercial district served by multiple modes of transportation. Our local representatives must advocate for the city on this. It does the city no good to have through-traffic whizzing by our stores and restaurants at high speeds.
As long as Noblesville’s footing part of the bill, how about making sure these improvements include walkable and bikeable sidewalks and/or trails? The rendering doesn’t seem to include those. I’ve heard more than one person suggest that its easier and safer to get in your car and drive to Starbucks from the hospital than it is to cross the street on foot. That’s just bad design and this new project gives us the opportunity to correct that.
We need to keep complete streets principles in mind as we improve the west side of the river. Ultimately our entire downtown ought to be walkable and bikeable. Currently walkability pretty much ends at the river. The Logan Street bridge walkway under construction is a good start but we have a long, long way to go and every improvement project needs to serve diverse modes of transportation.
Mike Corbett
Noblesville