Hamilton County residents and owners rejoice to U.S. 31 update

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) – Hamilton County drivers got some good news as a major corridor had all its lanes opened on Thursday.

At Westfield Tire, the owner said it’s been a challenging two years as the U.S. 31 project took place.

“With the road construction, mainly the dust and the dirt that was turned up, over the time, we don’t want to give the customers their car back with a quarter of an inch of dirt on them,” Westfield Tire owner Tim Shaw said.

The business is next to the U.S. 31 project in Westfield. It not only brought dirt, but issues with drivers getting to the tire shop.

But on Thursday, Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) announced all lanes are open.

“It’s a major relief now that we survived,” Shaw said.

Construction crews not only moved cones Thursday, but cleaned lanes to get the road ready. The $63 million Hamilton County corridor will allow drivers to move from 146th Street to the State Road 38 interchange.

“We moved here two and a half years ago, right about when it started and it’s been chaos ever since,” Westfield resident Sara Armstrong said. “So I’m very excited.”

“Very grateful, and good news to hear because anything to move the traffic a lot quicker and more efficient,” Westfield resident Darrell Walton said.

Not all of the construction is done on U.S. 31. The good news for drivers is it’s almost coming to an end.

The on-off ramp at 116th Street, and also at 106th Street will be done in Carmel by the end of this year. And INDOT still plans to have free flowing traffic from Westfield to Interstate 465 by 2016.

The open lanes may not only give Westfield Tire more business, but for the owner, this process gave him a new outlook.

“Now when we make a trip, we’ll look for a place to stop and eat at a business that has to deal with road construction because those poor people, they really go through a lot,” Shaw said.

INDOT says everything is on schedule. And while drivers will see a lot done by the end of this year, construction will continue into 2016.