By Dan Domsic
The Allisonville Road and 96th Street project motors toward completion this spring, and the town closed Brooks School Road at the Fall Creek Road intersection last week as part of roundabout construction for a 30-day period.
Two weeks ago, the first median U-turn opened at the Allisonville Road and 96th Street “Michigan Left” project, forcing motorists travelling eastbound on 96th Street to turn right onto Allisonville Road to make a U-turn in order to head north.
Two more median U-turns could be ready to go as early as the end of this month or the beginning of April, according to Town of Fishers Director of Public Relations Maura Leon-Barber.
A post on the Fishers Indiana Government Facebook page indicated the next U-turn loop, in which a driver heading southbound on Allisonville Road goes East by using the U-turn to turn right, was scheduled to come into play last Thursday.
The project’s hard completion date is set for May 28. Construction for the project was set for $8 million, but three contract changes accounted for an additional $68,000. Design costs were $630,000.
Fadness said an intersection similar to those found on Keystone Parkway in Carmel was considered, but businesses would have been displaced and would have been two to two-and-a-half times more expensive.
He said based on studies the design would not have enhanced the level of service for commuters.
In the Mar. 4 Fishers Town Council work session while taking questions from the council, Fadness said liquidated damages – a sum of money collected from the contractor for every day the project goes over or has “over runs” – if the intersection wasn’t ready to go by the May completion date.
“If the weather maintains where it’s at and all things go well, I don’t see that being an issue,” he said.
Fadness said liquid damages were not collected after the November completion date was surpassed because utility relocation problems were not of the fault of the contractor, Milestone Contractors, L.P.
A call to Milestone Contractors was not returned as of press time.
Roundabout at Brooks School Road and Fall Creek Road
Last Tuesday began a 30 day closure of Brooks School Road at the Fall Creek intersection.
Motorists can still travel east and west on Fall Creek but cannot turn north onto Brooks School Road.
The new roundabout, as well as repaving and path work, costs $1,274,000.
Fadness said the project needs be completed before July 1st – in time for the annual Blast on the Bridge festivities.
Part of the project is adding a high-intensity activated crosswalk – or HAWK system at the intersection, as well as improvements to the trail, such as guard rails, for the trail that runs parallel to Fall Creek Road, according to Fadness.
According to a post from the Town, entrances to Sail Place and a shopping center “will remain open to traffic throughout the construction of the roundabout.”