Motorists likley notice some huge equipment and construction along 146th Street at Allisonville Road.
Hamilton County Highway Dept. Director Bradley Davis said the work along 146th Street and Allisonville Road is part of the planned Ind. 37 upgrade project which will convert the signalized intersections to a single-point, at-grade interchange at Ind. 37.
“(Ind. 37) will be depressed at the intersection locations, so the current work along 146th Street is the installation of the drainage system that will drain the planned interchanges at 146th and 37 and 141st Street and 37,” Davis said.
Davis said the equipment drivers are seeing is the mobilization/set up of the tunneling equipment that will be used to tunnel and install piping from the White River to Ind. 37.
Between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., the northernmost lane of 146th Street, east and west of Allisonville Road, will be closed to all traffic for road work. However, access to northbound Allisonville Road will be maintained. Advance warning signs and cones will be placed before motorists reach the impacted area.
“This work is subsurface, approximately 25 feet or so underground. There are three sending/receiving pits. One is at Allisonville Road, one about in the middle between Allisonville Road and 37 and another on the south side of 146th Street near Ind. 37,” Davis said.
Davis said a second drainage/tunneling operation also is under way, just north of 126th Street, near Don Hinds Ford, that will be used to drain the interchanges planned at 126th and 131st streets.
The cost of the project for both drainage locations is approximately $19 million. The work is being done by Midwest Mole and Super Excavation.
The 126th Street interchange contract has been awarded to Reith Riley Contractors for approximately $22.1 million.
“Some work to accommodate traffic and utility relocations will be occurring between now and year end,” Davis said. “The southern drainage line will be completed prior to major work and excavation occurring at 126th Street.”
The 146th Street intersection at Ind. 37 will be the next one to undergo a transformation to an interchange, Davis said. That work won’t start until spring of 2020. The northern drainage line will be complete before major work can occur at 146th Street.
