The first two months of construction on Madison Avenue haven’t been as disruptive as anticipated, but some business owners are concerned that the next few months will be worse once traffic is reduced to a single lane.
The next phase of construction on Madison Avenue will begin as soon as Tuesday and last through September, as work moves to the west side of the road. The section of Madison Avenue between Pearl and Noble streets will only be open for northbound traffic, and the other two lanes will close for construction.
Drivers going south on Madison Avenue will be detoured to U.S. 31. More than 18,000 drivers travel through the section of Madison Avenue south of County Line Road every day, according to data from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
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Closing two lanes at a time is necessary for the project, and construction workers will make sure that customers will have access to businesses, capital projects manager Kevin Steinmetz said. That means using gravel for temporary access to driveways and making sure equipment isn’t blocking parts of the road when work isn’t taking place, he said.
For Scott Eanes, who owns Take Root Country store at 202 N. Madison Ave., one advantage is that customers can also access his business from U.S. 31 using Euclid Avenue, something he has been working the past several months to explain.
Eanes would prefer for two lanes of traffic to be open on Madison Avenue, but he understands why the change is necessary for the project, he said.
“I would love to have an alternative solution, but I don’t see how they could possibly have two lanes open,” Eanes said. “As long as they communicate with us and don’t close Euclid off, we will get through it.”
Eunjae Jones, the owner of Main Street Alterations at 150 N. Madison Ave., said that being a long-time business has helped them get through the construction, because they have an established customer base that knows how to get to the business.
“People complain about it, but they understand there is nothing we can do about it,” she said.
For one business owner, the expected drop in traffic over the next couple months is as much a concern as making sure customers have the ability to get to her shop.
Jackie Poe, who owns The Flower Market at 199 N. Madison Ave., said that southbound traffic — local residents returning from work in Indianapolis — is an important part of her business, and she’s not certain what the impact of the change to only one direction will be.
Poe, who lives on Wiley Street between U.S. 31 and Madison Avenue, said that her road has become a shortcut for drivers seeking to avoid construction on Madison Avenue. Drivers on U.S. 31 head east on Euclid Avenue and then use a series of neighborhood roads and alleys to access shops and restaurants on the west side of Madison Avenue, she said.
Work to rebuild Madison Avenue in Greenwood began in April with the first phase of construction, a $2 million project set to continue through September. The city anticipates spending a total of about $12.5 million rebuilding Madison Avenue from County Line Road to Smith Valley Road, where construction on a new roundabout will begin as early as Friday.
Besides tearing out and rebuilding the road, the center turn lane will be eliminated along much of Madison Avenue. That will allow the road to be narrowed, providing room for a bicycle and pedestrian trail separated from the road by a grass buffer, along with decorative lighting and crosswalks.
City officials say the project is necessary to improve traffic flow and make the area more pedestrian friendly, and that the millions of dollars in improvements to downtown Greenwood along Madison Avenue and elsewhere will spur economic development in coming years.
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As work continues on a $12.5 million rebuild of Madison Avenue from Smith Valley Road to County Line Road, here’s a look at some details on the first section of the project:
Cost: $2 million
Timeline: April through September
Project details: A reconstruction of Madison Avenue from Pearl Street to Noble Street. The project will involve removing the center turn lane and adding a 12-foot-wide trail with a grass buffer and two marked pedestrian crossings, one of which will have a signal for traffic.
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