By

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com.  This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com) 

As we head toward a new year what can we, in Hamilton County, look for in our community life? There will be both challenges and hopefully progress for our large and diverse county.

We can expect continued, unrelenting growth and development. The county’s local leaders have so far done an admirable job of keeping pace with the demands of citizens for good public safety services, schools, public libraries, medical facilities and recreational opportunities.

One area that continues to present challenges is the moving of traffic on our increasingly busy highways. The new year will hopefully see work underway on rebuilding State Road 37 into a freeway-style route, and Noblesville’s Pleasant Street bypass of the congested downtown business district. These projects will help immeasurably to easy traffic problems in central Hamilton County.

Other projects such as 146th Street reconstruction west to Michigan Road, reconstruction of 276th Street between State Road 19 and U.S. 31, a new flyover ramp accessing 146th to southbound Keystone Parkway, and the ever increasing number of roundabouts will also aid in better traffic flow.

Unresolved, and now seemingly dormant, is interest in public transportation sometimes called mass transit. Two years ago the topic was widely discussed, but not widely demanded. When and if this issue returns to the scene is uncertain.

Beyond meeting highway and transportation needs, the county will continue to face the critical challenge of drug addiction and individual drug overdoses. This scourge shows up at our hospitals and takes an increasing number of lives each year. Perhaps recently passed legislation and new ideas suggested by a new sheriff will help to curb or slow what has been called an epidemic, but often playing out “under the radar.” But, it is more likely that the problem will remain with us next year and needs top priority efforts of police, courts, schools and health organizations to keep from further infecting our local population.

The year 2019 will also see elections in our cities and towns where voters will choose municipal officials to lead local governments into a new decade. A new city administration is certain in Noblesville and could be in the future for other communities as a result of the May primary and November general election.

Challenging times await the cities of Noblesville, Carmel, Fishers and Westfield and even the smaller towns. There are questions of economic development and expanding expensive municipal services. How new or re-elected leaders deal with such issues remains to be seen.

In all these matters, financial resources along with innovative thinking are key. The county is very fortunate to have more resources than most areas of the state or even the nation. Our leaders must continue to put these assets to work to overcome challenges and realize potential rewards.