Transportation networks key as city grows

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The city’s thoroughfare plan anticipates future road infrastructure needs as Fishers continues to grow and develop. (Submitted map)
The city’s thoroughfare plan anticipates future road infrastructure needs as Fishers continues to grow and develop. (Submitted map)

This is the fifth entry in a Current in Fishers series on the city’s Fishers 2040 comprehensive plan, this week covering the chapter of the plan focusing on transportation.

By Sam Elliott

No chapter of the Fishers 2040 comprehensive plan might have as much of an effect on as many of the city’s residents as the section focusing on transportation — no matter who you are, everybody needs to get around and wants to be able to best navigate the growing city.

“I’m most excited about how comprehensive the transportation component is,” Deputy Mayor Leah McGrath said. “When people first hear transportation, they think cars, but it’s vehicles and pedestrians and all these corridors and place-making components.”

Vice president of CRG Residential, David George has lived in Fishers for 20 years and been a city councilor for 13. He remembers driving along 116th Street when it was just a two-lane road, and has seen firsthand how the city has reacted to its needs for more transportation options as Fishers has grown over the years.

“The neat thing about the 2040 plan is it all plans on top of land use and things like that, it’s all happening at the same time,” George said. “That was a good component, so we could look at the land use way out east where nothing is developed yet — what might be there, is it going to be housing at this density or a higher density? That’s going to affect the amount of cars, which affects what the road type would be. It was good to take a look at what that committee did and put that toward what we’re going to do.”

George co-chaired the Fishers 2040 transportation task force along with Parsons Brinckerhoff project manager and civil engineer Kimberly Mills and included city councilors Todd Zimmerman (Conner Insurance casualty advisor) and Stuart Easley (Elanco integration leader). Also included on the task force were Conner Prairie Vice President of Communications Amy Ahlersmeyer, First Internet Bank CEO David Becker, LoKe Bicycles owner Jim Moffitt, FORUM Credit Union CEO Doug True and Fishers High School senior Jimmy Cerone.

The task force’s priority for the underdeveloped east side of the city was to increase the area’s capacity for more traffic, while a focus on older roads on the west side of Fishers in the coming years and decades will be their maintenance. The city’s transportation and thoroughfare plans are already in place and reexamined every five years, although George said more of a focus was put on pedestrian and bicycle paths this cycle as those options have grown in popularity.

George said once the effects of current and future infrastructure projects are felt across I-69, SR-37, 96th, 106th and 116th streets, residents will see the results of the city’s work.

“The main goal I think is important for residents to understand is these aren’t just one project, one project and another project — it’s multiple projects that all work together and there’s a reason why when they’re built they’re all going to work together and function well,” he said.


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Transportation networks key as city grows

0
The city’s thoroughfare plan anticipates future road infrastructure needs as Fishers continues to grow and develop. (Submitted map)
The city’s thoroughfare plan anticipates future road infrastructure needs as Fishers continues to grow and develop. (Submitted map)

This is the fifth entry in a Current in Fishers series on the city’s Fishers 2040 comprehensive plan, this week covering the chapter of the plan focusing on transportation.

By Sam Elliott

No chapter of the Fishers 2040 comprehensive plan might have as much of an effect on as many of the city’s residents as the section focusing on transportation — no matter who you are, everybody needs to get around and wants to be able to best navigate the growing city.

“I’m most excited about how comprehensive the transportation component is,” Deputy Mayor Leah McGrath said. “When people first hear transportation, they think cars, but it’s vehicles and pedestrians and all these corridors and place-making components.”

Vice president of CRG Residential, David George has lived in Fishers for 20 years and been a city councilor for 13. He remembers driving along 116th Street when it was just a two-lane road, and has seen firsthand how the city has reacted to its needs for more transportation options as Fishers has grown over the years.

“The neat thing about the 2040 plan is it all plans on top of land use and things like that, it’s all happening at the same time,” George said. “That was a good component, so we could look at the land use way out east where nothing is developed yet — what might be there, is it going to be housing at this density or a higher density? That’s going to affect the amount of cars, which affects what the road type would be. It was good to take a look at what that committee did and put that toward what we’re going to do.”

George co-chaired the Fishers 2040 transportation task force along with Parsons Brinckerhoff project manager and civil engineer Kimberly Mills and included city councilors Todd Zimmerman (Conner Insurance casualty advisor) and Stuart Easley (Elanco integration leader). Also included on the task force were Conner Prairie Vice President of Communications Amy Ahlersmeyer, First Internet Bank CEO David Becker, LoKe Bicycles owner Jim Moffitt, FORUM Credit Union CEO Doug True and Fishers High School senior Jimmy Cerone.

The task force’s priority for the underdeveloped east side of the city was to increase the area’s capacity for more traffic, while a focus on older roads on the west side of Fishers in the coming years and decades will be their maintenance. The city’s transportation and thoroughfare plans are already in place and reexamined every five years, although George said more of a focus was put on pedestrian and bicycle paths this cycle as those options have grown in popularity.

George said once the effects of current and future infrastructure projects are felt across I-69, SR-37, 96th, 106th and 116th streets, residents will see the results of the city’s work.

“The main goal I think is important for residents to understand is these aren’t just one project, one project and another project — it’s multiple projects that all work together and there’s a reason why when they’re built they’re all going to work together and function well,” he said.


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Share.

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By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact