A Greenwood intersection that has twice been named one of the most dangerous in the state is set to be improved next year.
If you’ve tried to get to Greenwood Park Mall and other shops along Madison Avenue from County Line Road, you know the traffic problems well. Traffic headed west on County Line Road that is turning left onto Madison Avenue routinely causes a back-up that can stretch a mile or more.
And if you’re headed to the mall around Christmastime, you can expect a long wait.
In the last five years, the intersection at County Line Road and Madison Avenue has twice been ranked as one of the worst in Johnson County, with 14 crashes in 2015 and 10 in 2014, according to studies by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute.
A big issue is with the left turn lane, which doesn’t often doesn’t have enough room for all of the drivers wanting to make that turn. That causes vehicles waiting to turn to back up onto County Line Road, causing long delays.
But next year, the city of Indianapolis, which has jurisdiction over County Line Road, plans to extend the left turn lane on westbound County Line Road to make room for an additional 10 vehicles. The timing of traffic signals will also be adjusted to allow more drivers to turn south onto Madison Avenue, alleviating some of the congestion at that intersection, said Gretchen Zortman, a project manager for the Indianapolis Department of Public Works, who spoke to the Greenwood City Council at a meeting earlier this week. The project will also include installing accessible ramps and crosswalks, Zortman said.
Nearly 32,000 drivers traveled along that section of County Line Road every day in 2017, and about 18,000 drove through that section of Madison Avenue in 2016, according to the most recent traffic counts from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
James Bandy, the owner of Bandy insurance on County Line Road just east of the Madison Avenue intersection, gets a first-hand view from his desk of just how hectic the street has become. But with how many vehicles are on the road, he’s not sure how much of a difference extending the turn lane will make, he said.
“There are too many cars trying to get through there,” he said.
When the strip mall at the southeast corner of the intersection was demolished earlier this year, that also removed a popular shortcut for drivers.
With the parking lot now torn up, drivers going between Madison Avenue and County Line Road now have to go through the intersection. The property was purchased by the Greenwood Redevelopment Commission, and the former building was demolished, along with the parking lot. City officials have not yet decided what will be done with the property in the future.
The city council unanimously approved allowing Indianapolis to negotiate land purchases for the project, but will need to vote once more to confirm the decision. While Indianapolis is responsible for maintenance and improvements on County Line Road, widening the turn lane will require purchasing land on the south side of the road, which is inside Greenwood city limits, Zortman said.
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Here is a look at a project planned to improve a busy Greenwood intersection:
Where: County Line Road and Madison Avenue
When: 2019
Project details: The left turn lane on westbound County Line Road will be extended to allow additional vehicles to wait for the turn. Traffic light signals will be adjusted to give more time for left turns. Accessible ramps and crosswalks will be added.
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