INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Transportation is expanding a busy stretch of Rockville Road, but residents who live along the corridor say the project will make things more dangerous for them, not less.
The project, called "Modern Rockville Road," will add a third lane in each direction along the road. INDOT says 40,000 cars travel on Rockville Road each day, and the road has not been expanded since the late 1970s. The agency says growth on the west side has made the road increasingly dangerous.
"It's over the capacity that it was built to be at, and we are going to build it at a capacity that will hopefully last for another 20 years," INDOT spokesperson Jordan Yaney said.
Yaney said the volume of traffic has contributed to a troubling crash rate.
"Higher-than-expected number of crashes for a road that has similar traffic volumes, and it's because it doesn't have enough lanes," Yaney said.
Residents who live near the expansion route are not convinced the project will improve safety for them.
Karen Farmer, president of the Rockville Road Neighborhood Association, said delivery and service vehicles will use the new lane to stop at homes along the road.
"We have the mailman trash pick-up, we have the Amazon Prime, they are all going to be using that third lane for nothing other than stopping at the homes," Farmer said. "The likelihood of accidents is going to increase because they speed."
Farmer has lived in her home, which borders the busy road, since the late 1970s. She said the project was first brought to the neighborhood's attention in 2008, and the association was able to delay it from moving forward at that time, but not any longer.
Currently, the area includes a curb lane where drivers can pull over safely. That will no longer be the case once the project is complete. Carol Barker, who lives near Rockville Road, said that change creates a specific danger for residents with certain driveway configurations.
"Driveways that have no way of turning around, they have to back out into a travel lane. Extraordinarily dangerous," Barker said.
INDOT held a meeting on Wednesday to inform west side residents about the project. But neighbors who attended said they wish they had been heard before the plans were finalized.
"I know they said the plans are drawn, but I think there can always be some wiggle room if they were willing to listen to our story," Farmer said.
Construction is underway now and will be completed in phases. The project is expected to wrap up in 2028. For more information, click here.
__
