In 2019, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) relinquished control of a portion of State Road 9 from Rampart Road near Interstate 74 through downtown Shelbyville to the intersection of Harrison St. and Broadway to the City of Shelbyville. That allowed the city to control the downtown traffic pattern as it redeveloped the Public Square.
Now the city wants to improve the gateway stretch of State Road 9 from Rampart St. to the North Harrison St. bridge with a Build-Operate-Transfer project that should limit the overall cost to $7 million.
Adam Rude, Plan Director for the City of Shelbyville, presented early details on the project Monday to the Common Council at City Hall.
“We’ve been talking about the aesthetics and the safety of this corridor for a very long time … about 13 years ago in our comprehensive plan and every planning exercise since then,” said Rude. “We started work on this specific project before the Public Square itself got done because we knew we would have this beautiful, public plaza space and then an entryway that was not befitting for such a space.”
Original design work for improving the corridor came in at approximately $11 million. The city has reconfigured the design to get the total cost of the project under $7 million – a target price the city believes it can afford.
The new design, not yet finalized according to Rude, will include creating two roundabouts along the corridor, a sidewalk on the west side of the four-lane road and a trail path along the east side.
The first roundabout will replace the stop light at Michigan Road and Knauf Drive (photo). The second roundabout will be at the entrance to the new subdivision being built by Arbor Homes called Isabelle Farms.
One goal of the project is to slow traffic along the busy route which averages 17,562 daily trips. The sidewalk and trail path will make pedestrian traffic in the area much safer.
“Safety wise, it is a very large road where drivers feel comfortable driving well in excess of 60 miles per hour no matter what it is marked,” said Rude. “There is no pedestrian infrastructure out there so from a connectivity standpoint there is no pedestrian connectivity to the north side of town. You see people walking on the shoulder all the time.
“From a character standpoint, this is one of the major entryways and gateways to our community but I don’t think it says what we want it to say … to be blunt.”
The project also will include decorative signage and medians that will include landscaping.
The goal is to complete the project in the 2024 calendar year.
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