The Downtown Streetscape project has its origins in the 2018 Streetscape Master Plan – a collaborative community effort that involved a year’s worth of meetings with businesses, residents, and community groups.
This phase of the Downtown Noblesville Streetscape program will focus on Logan Street between Eighth and 10th streets, and Ninth Street between Conner and Clinton streets. The Downtown Streetscape project goals include:
- Support and sustain downtown businesses through significant infrastructure and aesthetic investments
- Preserve and protect historic and charming elements of downtown
- Significantly increase pedestrian friendliness and safety through widened sidewalks
- Preparation for new residents through extra walking space
- Post-COVID recovery efforts with more outdoor space for businesses to use
- Encourages a healthy lifestyle
City officials talked with many downtown businesses in the fall of 2020 as to preferred project timing in light of last year’s economic disruptions, and according to city officials, the overwhelming majority view at the time was to move forward with project construction in 2021.
The city and the Downtown District Committee recently completed open house meetings with more than 50 downtown businesses and stakeholder groups, including Noblesville Preservation Alliance, Chamber, Nickel Plate Arts, Downtown Restaurant Association, and Main Street to get additional feedback on the project.
With the evolving situation involving COVID, and based on getting more merchant and public feedback and details of the design and engineering work, the city has now moved its focus to 2022 for the construction season. City officials say that waiting a year also is optimal for the coordination of other developments and projects, particularly involving some of the aging wastewater infrastructure downtown.
The city plans to move forward this year with preparatory work and some smaller-scale steps to beautify the Downtown Square. Between now and when construction starts in 2022, the city will continue to engage with downtown merchants, residents, and other key stakeholders to get their feedback and explain the strategies the city is pursuing to make downtown a more pedestrian-friendly space and to help drive more business to valued restaurants, retailers, and service providers.
Bid letting for this project will be held later this year.
With the redesign of Logan Street, some parking spaces will be reallocated to a number of places in close proximity to the Downtown Square, including surface lots, on street and the Levinson (which is scheduled to open Aug. 1 with more than 200 parking spaces for the public), and the future Hamilton County Parking Garage (which would be open to the public on evenings and weekends once completed).
City officials say that these plans will result in a net increase in overall parking downtown.