McCORDSVILLE — A train makes its way along the tracks dividing McCordsville an average of nearly once an hour, pushing traffic on Mt. Comfort Road and Broadway Street back for blocks.
It hampers response times for emergency vehicles and doesn’t bode well for a town center leaders would like to see come to fruition.
To avoid continued congestion, officials want to lift Mt. Comfort Road over the tracks with a bridge, but it’s going to cost millions.
Ryan Crum, director of planning and building for McCordsville, said Indianapolis-based A&F Engineering is slated to sign a contract with the town on Tuesday to develop a preliminary design for the project.
Crum said the bridge would also widen Mt. Comfort Road to four lanes.
“The train tracks — they do bisect our town and separate our town and we would like to mitigate that with the bridge,” Crum said.
He added the bridge’s approaches will include the area from near County Road 800N to Broadway. An early estimate tallies the cost at $16 million, Crum said.
About 20 to 25 trains cross through McCordsville a day, Crum continued.
“The proximity of the tracks to Broadway and the frequency of trains cause some major traffic congestion issues with us,” he said.
Crum said a bridge will ensure emergency responders don’t get held up by trains.
McCordsville is in Vernon Township, which is responsible for providing fire protection and ambulance services. All of the fire and ambulance stations in the township are south of McCordsville’s railroad tracks. Florence May, the township trustee, said alternate routes exist for getting around trains, and the township has mutual aid agreements with communities north of the tracks, such as Lawrence and Fishers.
“We’re never completely blocked off,” she said.
But she shares Crum’s concern about trains causing congestion.
“Response time is very important whether you have a fire or whether you have a medical incident,” May said.
Crum said the bridge will also further incentivize investment in central McCordsville. Leaders want to see a town center emerge on undeveloped land between County Roads 600N and 750N and Broadway. A steering committee will ramp up discussions on that topic with the hopes of having a plan ready by the end of the year, Crum said.
McCordsville officials formerly considered a realignment of Mt. Comfort Road, also known as County Road 600W that would have curved it eastward starting near 600N and crossing the tracks with a bridge near the U.S. 36-State 234 intersection. But that project was estimated at more than $43 million and wouldn’t have been able to be done in phases.
The current track McCordsville is on will allow for Mt. Comfort Road to be improved in phases, Crum said. The bridge makes up one of those phases, while others include improvements to other roads off Mt. Comfort Road and continuing to widen it to four lanes beyond the bridge.
The bridge will include a sidewalk or multipurpose trail as well.
“That is a priority for us because the railroad itself is a major barrier for pedestrians and bicyclists,” Crum said.
Depending on the design, the bridge could impact businesses in the area, Crum said. There’s a good chance the Village Pantry would lose its access off Mt. Comfort Road. The property has accesses off Broadway and South Railroad Street, however.
McCordsville was unsuccessful in its attempts last year at securing funding to help make the project possible from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Trax program. The Hancock County Redevelopment Commission agreed to fund up to $2 million of the town’s commitment for both opportunities.
Crum said the town plans to apply to the metropolitan planning organization again this fall. The program funds 80 percent of construction and construction inspection costs on awarded projects. Crum said the program has an overall allotment of about $50 million, but comes with tough competition from other communities, such as Fishers and Carmel.
