BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) — Beech Grove city leaders are asking for help from the state to make changes to a dangerous intersection.
Beech Grove Mayor Dennis Buckley announced Tuesday that city leaders are applying for funding from INDOT to construct a roundabout at Victory Drive and Emerson Avenue near Interstate 465.
Buckley said traffic going southbound has increased dramatically.
“They’re going to have to look into this. It’s gotten to the point where you just sit there and a lot of people don’t even go on Emerson anymore. They go up 9th Avenue to Thompson (Road) and come across,” Buckley said.
The roundabout comes after many accidents at the intersection. INDOT has recently ranked Emerson Avenue and Victory Drive the 19th most dangerous in Marion County and surrounding counties.
“A lot of people come out of Lowe’s trying to get on Emerson. The light’s very short and there’s actually no real turn signal to go left. It’s a dedicated turning lane, so you have a lot of people trying to squeeze in,” said Brad Mayweather, director of Public Works. “As you have traffic heading north and south on Emerson, it can create a very dangerous situation.”
The roundabout would be one of the busiest in Beech Grove, and it’s something drivers will have to get used to if INDOT approves the project. It will help ease traffic on both streets.
“Beech Grove actually had the first roundabout in Marion County, which is right at Sherman and Albany, and there were a lot of feelings of intimidation prior to that roundabout being constructed. But since the construction of that roundabout, it’s been an amazing success for that intersection,” Mayweather said.
“Over the next five years the traffic in that area is going to increase by over 30{46ff1f14221e6e90aab6104ff16614ca22b12c1f029f774ee196565ca96b3af3},” Buckley added.
Mayweather said no date has been set for construction to begin.
(Photo provided by WISH-TV.)
