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FISHERS, Ind. — Tuesday morning, local media was given an exclusive look at the Nickel Plate District construction that is underway currently in downtown Fishers.

The trail construction, when complete, will include a pedestrian tunnel beneath 116th Street and is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2022.

Scott Fadness, Mayor of Fishers, explained, “There are approximately 40,000 cars travel down 116th Street every day. For years, no one ever wanted to cross the street because it was so congested. At the same time, we released about $115 million dollars worth of real estate development all within a very tight frame.”

“A lot of times what you don’t see above ground is all of the things that are happening below ground.”

The tunnel that goes beneath 116th Street is rather wide and open.

“We really wanted to open this up from a design perspective. We wanted areas like this where people could just come out, hang out, and people can have live music here,” said Fadness.

Jason Taylor, Director of Engineering for Fishers, explained that the open area was strongly influenced by inclusion. Taylor and his team met with the ADA committee in the city and took a thoughtful look from an accessibility standpoint.

“That was part of what we did on the approaches, we needed to make sure we met the ADA requirements but then, from just the aspect of the bicycles, we’re having a channel right next to the wall and the stairs in which you can actually push your bike up and down. So if you ride down into the tunnel and then you come up, you can access something right next to it,” said Taylor.

The trail stretches from North Street to South Street in Fishers. The section of the trail that stretches from South Street to Lantern Road will be open at night and well-lit to boost Fisher’s downtown nightlife.

Ultimately, the city plans to connect this trail through all of the northeast corridors from downtown Noblesville to the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Mayor Fadness explained the City of Indianapolis has already applied for grants.

Even though the construction is focused on the trail, downtown Fishers has also been preparing for the movement of First Internet Bank to settle into their headquarters right next to the trail and is set to open to its employees the weekend of November 20th.

The building will also be available for a few retail spaces as well as a restaurant.

For more information and updates on construction for Nickel Plate, please visit www.fishers.in.us.