A new sidewalk is being added along a key route through Bargersville as part of a plan to connect walkers and bikers to downtown, a new park, elementary school and new neighborhoods in coming years.
Next year, the town will begin work on a $1.8 million project to build about a mile of sidewalk along County Road 144, Harriman Avenue and Main Street. Currently, that area does not have sidewalks except for a section of Harriman Avenue, and adding them will allow walkers and bikers to safely get to local parks and businesses, town officials said.
In addition to the sidewalk, the town also will install drainage systems meant to help with flooding in the area along County Road 144 and curbs. The project is being paid for with a $1.1 million state grant, and funds from the town.
Currently, residents wanting to walk across town have go through grass yards on either side of County Road 144, which is a safety concern, town council member Ken Zumstein said.
“We have a lot of kids, a lot of children and people who walk up and down (County Road) 144,” Zumstein said.
Zumstein expects the sidewalk will help encourage further business development near the intersection of County Road 144 and State Road 135, as the shops and restaurants there will be much easier to access once the sidewalk is complete. He cited an undeveloped lot on the northeast corner of that intersection as a potential location for new development.
Expanding the network of sidewalks and trails will be a large focus for the town in coming years, especially with money collected from a new fee the town is charging developers to raise money for recreation projects, planning director Julie Young said.
One option would be to continue with sidewalks and trails along County Road 144 to the west, connecting to a new park the town plans to develop on 19 acres of land along County Road 144 and then to where the new Walnut Grove Elementary School is being built on Morgantown Road.
Other possibilities include extending a trail north and connecting with sidewalks on Whiteland Road, Young said.
The five-foot wide, concrete sidewalk that is planned to be built next year would go on the south side of County Road 144 between State Road 135 and Harriman Avenue. The sidewalk would then go from Harriman Avenue to Main Street, and north to County Road 144 and east to Switzer Park, Zumstein said.
As part of the project, the town is also adding curbs, drains and stormwater pipes to help manage flooding. During and after periods of heavy rain, residents on County Road 144 west of State Road 135 have flooding in their yards, a problem they’ve been asking the town to alleviate, Young said.
The town will need to purchase land for the project, but will likely only need a sliver of land on 17 properties, Young said. The town is beginning to get appraisals done to determine the final cost of buying the land, she said.
