September 30, 2008

Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision

In May of this year, INDOT and the US 31 Hamilton County project team published a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS). The purpose of the SDEIS was to update the public and resource agencies on the proposed changes in the design of the US 31 Hamilton County corridor since the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approved the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in June, 2003.
 

The FHWA approved the SDEIS in May, 2008. INDOT hosted an open house and two public hearings at Carmel High School on June 26, 2008 as an opportunity for the public to provide verbal, recorded input on the project. Identical or similar comments will be addressed collectively in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which will be reviewed and approved by the FHWA later this year. The public comments/concerns and suggestions are also being considered by INDOT and the design team as they work to complete the final design plans. The FHWA will publish the Record of Decision (ROD) in the Federal Register in early 2009.
 

June 26 public hearing and open house

More than 400 people attended the open house and public hearings at Carmel High School. During the open house, residents were able to view renderings of the entire corridor and interchange design displays. This was a great opportunity for residents to speak individually with project team members to address comments and concerns. More than 20 residents voiced their concerns at the public hearings, which were recorded and are part of the official transcript.

Summary of comments
More than 500 comments from approximately 150 individuals and organizations were received during the public comment period, from May 21, 2008 through July 25, 2008, which will be included as part of the official transcript. The comments received generally fell into the categories of:

• Interchange design preferences
• Access questions or concerns
• Land acquisition questions or concerns
• The desire for this project to accommodate future modes of mass transit
• The desire for bicycle and pedestrian trails to be accommodated
• Suggestions regarding traffic flow during construction

US 31 Web site features

If you weren’t able to attend the public hearing, design options for each interchange can be found on the Web site, www.us31HamiltonCounty.in.gov. A tab titled “Public Hearings” contains a project summary video, along with a PowerPoint presentation showing updated interchange designs.
 

Virtual maps of 146th/151st Sts. are also available on the Web site. Residents interested in finding out how to navigate through the Clay Terrace shopping area can see these routes going both north and south bound. For example, this virtual map will show you how, once the US 31 project is complete, you will get to Marsh if you’re driving north on US 31.
 

Community meetings coming soon

Public outreach team members are available to present to groups of 20+ persons in Hamilton County. If your group or organization would like a presentation about the US 31 Hamilton County project, please contact the outreach team through Pankaj Desai, at pdesai@indot.in.gov, (317) 232-5214, or Jennifer Dzwonar at Jennifer.dzwonar@borshoff.biz, (317) 631-6400. While availability is somewhat limited, efforts will be made to accommodate all requests.