After taking the time to tease fellow Hamilton County Commissioners in front of an audience of several hundred, Steve Dillinger spent much of the June 29 County State Luncheon at the Embassy Suites in Noblesville focusing on road construction. The 2021 county state address was slated for January but has been postponed to June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 126th Street and Ind. 37 is finished.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Dillinger’s first presentation was on the State Road 37 project.
“One of the most exciting things that happens to me is what happens on 37,” said Dillinger. “This is a project requiring a lot of government cooperation and teamwork and it was a partnership between Hamilton County, Noblesville, Fishers and the Indiana Department of Transportation. We have received several awards for this.
Dillinger detailed each intersection planned for construction on the Ind. 37, starting at 126th Street, a $ 22 million project completed in November 2020. When completed, the interchanges will look like Keystone Parkway, Ind. 37 moving under the interchange for each intersection.
The 146th Street intersection is under construction. Dillinger showed several videos of traffic during the evening hours at each intersection a year and a half ago.
“One of the things I think Hamilton County has done well is that we have recognized these situations and taken action before it is too late,” he said. “When you start a project, the sooner you get the project is six years from the time you start talking about it. “
The cost of rebuilding the 146th Street intersection is $ 30 million and is expected to be completed next spring.
Dillinger also described the 131st Street and 135th Street intersections, which are expected to be completed next summer, and the 141st Street intersection, which is expected to start in early 2022 and end in fall 2023.
“When we’re done with all of this, if we haven’t disrupted traffic enough yet, we’re going to move to 146th Street and Allisonville Road,” Dillinger said. “As we improve on the 37th and 146th it will exacerbate the problem we have here. “
Dillinger said the county has not decided whether 146th Street will pass under or above Allisonville Road, but the expected start date is spring 2023, with a completion date of fall 2024. The project is estimated at $ 29 million.
Other road projects discussed by Dillinger included 146th Street from Shelborne Road to Towne Road, which is slated for completion in October, and the last stretch of Shelborne Road to Boone County Line Road, also with an expected completion date in October. He then said the focus on 146th Street will shift to the intersections of Carey, Gray and Hazel Dell Roads for improvements. Dillinger said these intersections are still in the planning stages, but the intersection will be “over / under,” where 146th Street will be either above or below each of these intersections with an associated exit and ramps. .
A render of the downtown parking garage for county employees and courthouse staff. (Render submitted)
CAPITAL PROJECTS
Dillinger discussed several Hamilton County capital projects, such as the installation of solar panels and the new downtown Noblesville parking lot for county employees and courthouse staff.
“We’re not blowing smoke when we told you how much money we would save if we spent money on this solar project,” Dillinger said of the $ 8 million solar panel project near the prison. of Noblesville County. “Over the next 25 years, it is estimated that we will save $ 14 million net. With the changes we made to LED lighting and signs, we saved over $ 1 million in 2020 on taxpayer dollars. “
The new car park will be built behind Syds Fine Food. The $ 11.5 million project has started and is expected to be completed by February 2022. When completed, there will be 475 free parking spaces for public use after 5 p.m. and on weekends. During the day, spaces are reserved for county employees and courthouse staff, such as jurors.
To learn more, visit hamiltoncounty.in.gov.
An overview of COVID-19
Hamilton County Commissioner Steve Dillinger spent much of the start of his June 29 county state address talking about the effects of COVID-19. Dillinger said 442 county residents had died from the virus, although he said the county “had just lost another,” so the number was not fully up to date.
Dillinger thanked several entities – Hamilton County Emergency Management, Hamilton County Health Dept., Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Ivy Tech, 4-H Fairgrounds and Riverview Hospital – for their efforts during the pandemic.
He also gave an overview of the vaccine clinic’s efforts. By lunchtime, Hamilton County’s COVID-19 positivity rate was 2.2%, and 67.4% of county residents had been vaccinated, the second highest percentage of residents vaccinated in the state .
