Writer & Photographer / Dann Veldkamp
Many of us have spent time in line waiting to turn south on State Road 135 from westbound Fry Road. The intersection has long been a bottleneck for Center Grove residents returning from Greenwood Park Mall and other points in Greenwood. That will change over the course of the summer as the city of Greenwood puts in place a plan to add a second left turn lane to the intersection.
Over 10,000 cars go through the intersection on an average day. Naturally, rush-hour is a particularly busy time, and the cars back up well beyond the current 200-foot-long left turn lane. Slowing the intersection even more is the lack of a dedicated right turn lane. With the current design, drivers who want to turn right may be caught behind those who want to cross S.R. 135 and enter the Sable Ridge development. By combining the through lane with the middle left turn lane, the new design will eliminate this delay.
Fry Road will remain open during the construction. Beyond the improvements to the intersection, the road will be repaved nearly 900 feet east toward the Faith Baptist Church. In addition, a sidewalk will be added for pedestrians along the south side of Fry Road. This, along with existing trails, will allow residents to walk to Northwest Park near the fire station.
Greenwood city engineer Mark Richards expects the improvements to cost less than $400,000. The project should be completed in September.
We may experience a bit of pain over the summer, but by next fall, we should all be enjoying smoother travels on our way home.
