Monon Trail Work Completed... Sort of

Well, it snowed yesterday, and that means – of course – that after eight long months, contractors have (finally) finished their work on the southern half of the Monon Trail in Marion County; the detour under the North Split not included. In other words, from 14th Street to the north entrance to Canterbury Park (about 56th Street), the pavement is finished. Every crossing has freshly painted crosswalk markings, and those irritating dropoffs where asphalt meets concrete at the street junctions are, at least for now, level and even. With the exception of a couple of spots where workers left tracked-vehicle ruts, the pavement is as smooth as a baby's behind.

A few things to note: 

1. The trail was realigned slightly where it crosses Sutherland Avenue so the crossing is now at a right angle; removal of the old tracks has allowed drivers making a right turn at the intersection to power through at speed. Be careful!
2. The old hardwood company at 30th Street has been converted to a beer garden with parking on the opposite side of the trial. You no longer need to watch for machinery, but keep an eye out for tipsy pedestrians.
3. The detour over to College Avenue is still in place, and it's not particularly bike-friendly. Watch for rough pavement and construction traffic. I was gratified, though, to see that the turn from the main line onto the detour has been widened to something like full width.
4. It may be a while... if ever... before anyone picks up all those out-of-date detour signs. So what else is new?

The repaving job accounts for about half the trail's length in Marion County, with work on the other half planned for an unspecified future date. So the wretched root ridges at Broad Ripple Avenue and 86th Street are still in place, although after cyclist's death at the 86th Street crossing the city retimed the stop light the give trail users about ten seconds before north-south traffic got a green. Now, if drivers would just obey the "No Turn on Red" signs so no more ghost bikes are necessary.

Apropos nothing, lots of us wonder why the work on the trail was performed in that weird "leapfrog" pattern, with unaffected sections alternating with stretches undergoing work, instead of just progressing from one end to the other.

Hamilton County, also known as "Detour County" to some trail users, is a different story... As of last week, the trail was averaging about one detour every three miles between 96th Street and IN 32. The trail is currently closed between 116th Street and Carmel Drive for what appears to be a bridge replacement; the detour takes cyclists through roundabouts at 116th and Guilford and Carmel Drive and Guilford (Carmel roundabouts in rush hour: always a frightening prospect) and adds about a mile to the trip. The second detour is less fraught; it takes trail users east on Smoky Row, north on Rangeline, and back to the Monon via the Hagen-Burke Trail. I sure wish someone would explain to whomever that actual maps are easier to read than aerial photos with yellow lines on them...

Still in Hamilton County, the long-standing (since March) closure of the Monon where it crosses Westfield Park (north of 169th Street) should re-open any day, now that the days are short and the weather is becoming wintry. Thanks, we guess, HamCo.

That being said, I guess we'll see you in Spring, unless you're hardier than most!

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