'Burb Bites: Big closure for new Carmel roundabout
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A detour map of the planned closure of 116th Street and AAA Way. Photo: Courtesy of the city of Carmel.
This week's news from around the region includes yet another roundabout for Carmel, a distillery expansion in Fortville and a plan to quiet pickleball courts in Brownsburg.
👷 Carmel road crews are getting ready to shut down one of the city's busiest intersections through the fall to install a new roundabout.
- Work at 116th Street and AAA Way begins on July 13. Officials say the full-closure plan will speed up construction time and create a safer work environment while saving cash.
- They add that access to businesses in Merchants Square plaza and other surrounding areas will remain open. The project is scheduled for completion in October.
🎼 Also in Carmel, the city is taking on the branding of "Songbook City" starting today and continuing through the end of the month to recognize the locally-based Great American Songbook Foundation.
- The nonprofit has been a leader in music preservation efforts since 2007.
- Their next major initiative is the establishment of a museum, research center and visitor experience near Carmel's Midtown to house archival materials.
🥃 In Fortville, Moon Drops Distillery is planning to build a second 6,700-square-foot rack house to age spirits in barrels.
- IBJ reports that the expansion comes as the Hancock County-based brand gets ready to release its first self-produced bourbon whiskey, which was barreled in 2021.
- The new rack house will match the company's existing rack house, which has a capacity for 2,000 barrels.
🏓 Brownsburg city leaders are looking to get a handle on the noise made by popular pickleball courts at Stephens Park.
- The city's park authority is moving forward with a plan introduced last month to add sound-dampening, new fencing, landscaping and automated gate access at a cost of between $127,000 and $147,000.
- The courts have been a hot spot since opening in 2021, but have drawn noise complaints from nearby neighbors.
🪨 Fishers-based American Resources will get a share of $75 million in federal grant money to support projects focused on the production of critical minerals.
- The firm was one of five selected by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation.
- The funding will pay for the development of pilot-scale facilities that use coal and coal-based feedstocks to produce rare-earth elements.
🌭 Westfield resident and competitive eating legend Joey Chestnut made history by eating 66 hot dogs Saturday to win his 18th Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest title.
- Chestnut, who is on probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery in connection with a March altercation at Joe's Grille on Spring Mill Road, was granted court permission to travel out of state to defend his title.