For anyone that’s traversed the roundabout at Olio and Southeastern Parkway, you likely wondered if you were going to get out of it alive, or at least out of it on the right street. I’ll admit, I ended up on 136th Street instead of Olio the first time I tried to get though it. For those from out of town, what makes the roundabout worse is when they go through the already confusing double diamond exchange over I-69 just before.
Well there is good news!
The City of Fishers has included a project targeting the roundabout in their Capital planning projects. The city has roundabout improvements at the intersection of Olio Road and Southeastern Parkway as a design phase item. The intent is to improve lane utilization to allow for better traffic flow and volume distribution in the circulating lanes. The expectation is for the improvements to also better inform motorists of the appropriate lanes to be using while approaching the roundabout. The hope is to decrease the number of accidents within the intersection, which currently consists of a large number of side-swipe and rear-end crashes.
The bad news, however, is that the bids are anticipated in the fall of 2023, so it is two years away before the bids might happen. Construction obviously can’t happen until bids are received and approved. When construction does occur, funding is expected to be split 90/10 between federal and local sources.
The City posted one preliminary exhibit for what the results of a redesign might look like. It involves removing the 136th Street spoke from the roundabout and adding another roundabout just south for that traffic:
Whether the final design is what is pictured or something else, one thing is for sure, many of those that drive through this roundabout would like to see something change.
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