While INDOT contractors continue working on projects for your car, the Town of Fishers is working on projects for your feet and bicycles.
A bundle of three pathway projects is being constructed by R A Myers Construction and an in-house public works crew. The three projects are budgeted at $320,000, but they are currently slated to cost $270,000 according to Jeff Hill, Town of Fishers Director of Engineering.
On Fishers’ east side, R A Myers is constructing a concrete side walk on the west side of Olio Road, and an asphalt path on the street’s east side. The segments are from 126th to 136th Street.
A segment of 126th Street west of Lantern Road to the Lantern Ridge subdivision will receive an asphalt path on its north side. This project is being kept in the town’s fold, as opposed to being contracted to R A Myers.
The bundle’s third project, another asphalt path, is at 106th Street’s north side between Lantern Road and Cumberland Road.
Fishers resident Leslie Mooney, 50, has lived on 106th Street since 1991. She said she was in favor of the pathway when it was first presented to her and her family in April. Between April and August the plan was changed to move the pathway within five feet of her family’s home.
Hill said the engineering department discovered a right of way grant that allowed the path to be built that close to the home, saving money and keeping it away from the road.
Mooney said safety and security for her family was a major concern, and after working with the town she said the two parties came to a mutual agreement concerning the pathway, which will be positioned closer to the road.
Hill said it wasn’t fully resolved, but they were close to an agreement.
All three projects’ collective target completion is early November.
While connectivity in these neighborhoods is the focus now, one larger project looms in 2014.
“The focus is trying to get the Nickel Plate Trail extended from downtown here out towards Conner Prairie,” Hill said, adding that with all the accompanying amenities, aesthetics and widening an existing pathway on Lantern Road, connecting to Conner Prairie would cost $300,000 to $400,000.
Hill said the town is still figuring out the details, as bid and material prices will dictate just how much of the path the municipality will be able to take on. The projected 2014 budget for pathways is about $300,000. Federal grants are being pursued to keep costs on budget.