Curb project causing bumpy situation in Meridian-Kessler
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A road improvement project in Meridian-Kessler is causing some unanticipated problems.
Some in the neighborhood say the project is making it impossible to get around.
The construction runs along Winthrop Avenue between 54th and 52nd Streets.
Indy DPW said the resurfacing project was meant to help with flooding in the area. But residents say the problem is the new curbs.
They’re now fearing it could cause damage to their cars and hurt their businesses.
“It used to be a smooth entrance like a driveway that you go into your house or maybe into a regular parking lot off the street. Now it’s an actual curb,” said Nick Kramer, a trainer at NapTown Fitness Monon Trail.
The CrossFit gym is located on the 5200 block of Winthrop Avenue, right in the middle of the construction project.
“They kind of made the curb all crazy like and rough,” Kramer said.
Residents say the project has been going on for a year. First they installed sidewalks, then repaved the street, and recently installed the curb.
“It’s like I’m getting whiplash, like its bump ‘bump, bump bump’,” said Melissa Reiman, who lives on Winthrop Avenue. “Everyone on this road has complained about it.”
The curb is about 4 inches high for the entire length, with no cut-outs for driveways.
“Now that they have the curbs in, they’re really steep and you have to go really slow so you don’t break anything on your car,” said Marissa Doner, who works in the area.
“We were talking about it everyday, like are they going to build this eventually or is it just always going to be this huge jump into the parking lot?” said Emma Vernard, who also works in the area.
A spokesperson for the DPW says the road will be resurfaced and 2 inches of asphalt will be added. They also said markings will show where driveway entrances begin and end.
In the meantime, people say instead of risking going into the driveways, they’re resorting to parking on side roads and walking to where they need to go.
DPW says the road is scheduled to be resurfaced in a few days, and that signage will go up in the near future.