Infrastructure, Development Move Forward in Noblesville
With some incredible stats from the Indiana Peony Festival too
Welcome to a brand new take on my monthly update — the latest from yours truly, the city councilor representing downtown Noblesville. In each message, I do my best to keep you informed about our corner of the world. I’m glad you’re here.
Without further ado, here’s the latest happening in the 9th largest1 city in the State of Indiana:
1. The Council considered three annexations.
During this week’s meeting, the Council moved forward on three annexations west of the White River. Each are listed and linked below:
Pebble Brook Crossing: Off of 191st Street, just west of Pebble Brook Golf Course
Magnolia Ridge: East of Mill Creek Road, in between 161st and 171st Streets
Comstock Estates: North of Forest Park, west of SR-19
What benefits come with annexation?
After a city annexes an area into its limits, residents (current and future) will receive city services like trash and street maintenance (like snow plowing!) and sewer connectivity, to name a few.
2. Infrastructure & road resurfacing projects are well underway.
As you drive around Noblesville (or any other city in central Indiana), you’re bound to see detours and orange cones. A bulk of this work is a result of our decision as a city to invest in our infrastructure alongside our partners at Hamilton County and INDOT.
Over the past few months, these are the projects I’ve been most frequently asked about:
INDOT/City Project: Roundabouts at SR-32/SR-38 and SR-32/River Road
City/County Project: Pleasant Street
City Project: Nickel Plate Trail
County Project: 146th Street & Allisonville
INDOT/City Project: Roundabout at SR-38/Whitcomb Ridge/Oakmont
Private Project: Bier Brewery
The temporary traffic signals were removed as the bridge maintenance & painting of the Nickel Plate Trail (in the historical railroad font) was completed along Allisonville Road.
While it’s not terribly exciting, resurfacing roads is a key part of this responsibility. This year, in coordination with funding from the Community Crossings grant, we’re able to resurface:
Boden Road from Greenfield to SR-38
Morse Pointe subdivision
Old Town south of Cherry Street and east of 10th Street
Pebble Brook / Pinehurst Village (alternate depending on bid)
Prairie Crossing Woods and Greens
Union Chapel Road from Greenfield Avenue to Town & Country Boulevard
Town & Country Boulevard from Union Chapel Road to Mercantile Boulevard
The west portion of Chapel Woods subdivision
If it seems like a lot of infrastructure work, it is! Click here2 for a primer on why it may seem like we’re doing so many projects at once.
How does Noblesville decide which roads are up for resurfacing?
Every two years, the Engineering Department drives and rates all streets within the City and gives each a 1-10 rating based on a national Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) system. This, along with our current and projected funding, are used to create a city asset management plan. In the “off year”, the department re-rates all streets that are in the lower scores. They then group the lower rated streets by work area, perform an estimate, and determine the best way to piece together these work areas for a several year program. As each area is completed, they can update the plan, and roll into the next group.
3. The Indiana Peony Festival experienced record success.
In May, Seminary Park was adorned with peonies for the 3rd Annual Indiana Peony Festival. Over the past three years, this event brings thousands of people to our downtown and to Seminary Park.
This week, Kelly McVey shared a report with the city council on the success of the Indiana Peony Festival and the economic impact it has on our city, specifically with the merchants downtown Noblesville.
A few stats she shared:
9th Street Bistro quadrupled their brunch sales from last year's Peony Festival
Just Lagom and Wild Bohemian said their sales were up 600% over a normal Saturday, with many other locations saying their sales were up 300%. Wild Bohemian also shared that they averaged a sale every 4 minutes.
Three Rusty Nails said they had a minimum of 1000 people walking through their store on the day of the festival.
Alexander's Ice Cream had a 2-hour wait all day long and it was their best one of their best days in over 20 years.
As a downtown resident, I’m so proud of this volunteer-led and resident-driven festival. Its excellence is known throughout the midwest and is growing! Kudos to Kelly McVey and her team.
4. Don’t miss Ansley Park, Atlanta
As Noblesville grows, private development will play a key role in building the vision the City sets for its future. Each month, I try to share some of the examples of new development I've seen around the country that I believe we should look to as inspiration down the road.
For example, within Atlanta’s historic “Ansley Park” neighborhood (just north of downtown) is Village Niche — a collection of 4 homes designed by Pritchett Dixon. It's a modern cottage court, with very large homes, proving quality placemaking & suburbia can coexist.
5. There are new developments coming to the 4H Fairgrounds
This week, the County shared a few updates coming to the 4H Fairgrounds including:
The removal of a few buildings that are within the right-of-way for the Pleasant Street project
The addition of new buildings, like the Bicentennial Pavilion
And more of their vision for this important asset to Noblesville and the County
If you’d like to look at the entire packet they presented, you can access that here.
Before you go, a few trending stories:
Here are a few stories you may have missed on Noblesville over the past month:
Inside Indiana Business: Noblesville-based Helmer Scientific acquired by Trane
WishTV: Peony Festival in downtown Noblesville expected to bring 10,000 attendees
The Current: Reaping profit: Boost in sales, customers benefit vendors at Noblesville Farmers Market
IndyStar: Rental development for seniors latest wave in building surge for west Noblesville
The Reporter: Noblesville Schools opens applications for Miller Ambassador program until July 1
Noblesville is growing — and quickly. In 2021, the IndyStar shared an article that listed Noblesville as the 10th largest city in Indiana. Since then, we’ve eclipsed Lafayette as the 9th largest. We have a bit to go until we get close to Hammond at 77k.
Noblesville is a bit unique since we have a compact downtown core, older infrastructure, and more intersecting stakeholders as the county seat than any other city in Hamilton County. Within a four-mile radius, we have four state roads and many county assets that have had projects planned for many years but were funded (sometimes by outside entities) for similar periods.
In some cases, if we forgo funding due to scheduling reasons, we either go to the back of the line (kicking the project out even further) or sacrifice the funding altogether (meaning the financial burden for the project would then fall onto Noblesville taxpayers if the necessary project couldn’t get funded again).
As an example, the County has had the 146th St. & Allisonville project in the works for many years. The upgraded roundabouts for the SR-32/38 intersection was announced in 2018 and programmed for last summer and this summer. The Pleasant Street project has also been a need for decades, but didn't move forward until 2020. While we do our best to avoid overlap, at times these three project timelines do overlap, especially with a shortened construction season like we have in Indiana due to weather and school schedules.
Great information!