Construction work will close section of U.S. 31

Major construction and congestion is coming to Carmel ahead of schedule.

The Indiana Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced plans to shut down a section of U.S. 31 in Hamilton County for eight months beginning this spring, work that was initially set to begin in 2015.

But while the plan calls for accelerated work on many of Carmels busiest intersections, project officials still dont expect to finish the full project before the end of 2015 as other work is pushed back.

The road will be closed beginning April 4, from Old Meridian Street to 136th Street, through Thanksgiving, according to INDOT, while new overpasses and interchanges are built at major cross streets including 136th, Main Street and Carmel Drive. U.S. 31 also will be cut to one lane of traffic each way beginning at 116th Street in the south and Keystone Parkway in the north.

The work is part of a broader, $1.2 billion project ongoing since 2011 to turn U.S. 31 into a limited access highway by removing 32 traffic lights between I-465 and South Bend. The Hamilton County portion will convert 13 stoplights to free-flowing interchanges, shaving commute times by 10 minutes locally and as much as 30 minutes along the entire corridor, according to transportation officials.

While the overall plan has been in place for years, the announcement still caught residents, businesses and even Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard off guard Tuesday, mere weeks before the closures are expected to take effect.

Today is the first I knew of the exact dates, said Jami Santos, co-owner of Bellacinos Pizza and Grinders on Carmel Drive near the highway. We were all aflutter about it this morning.

Santos said her employees were wondering how they should get to work come April, and she doesnt know what to expect from customers when the road shuts down.

We keep going back and forth as to how much its going to hurt our business, Santos said. On the plus side, Bellacinos doesnt have much highway visibility to begin with, so the increased local traffic could help. Her restaurant already has received a boost from construction workers, she said.

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Construction work will close section of U.S. 31