Have thoughts about Beechmont Avenue? Here's your chance to share them

Drivers stuck in slow-moving traffic on Beechmont Avenue in Anderson Township might curse the construction.

But as the road work wraps up next year, aggravation could turn to gratitude as traffic headaches are allayed. At least that's the hope of planners who have long looked for ways to improve safety and reduce congestion along this busy stretch of highway. 

The plans that brought construction to Beechmont Avenue in Anderson Township are now part of "The Beechmont Plan" which will be on display and open for comments at an open house from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, at Anderson Center. The Beechmont Plan is a consolidation of multiple planning documents for the township’s “downtown area.”

The plan offers nothing out of the ordinary, according to township planner Sarah Donovan. Everything in it was addressed before but in different formats.

“This is, in large part, an effort to merge our various planning efforts over the years . . . into one single document,” said Steve Sievers, assistant administrator for operations. The consolidated document includes information from the Beechmont Corridor Plan, Landscape Plan, Anderson Trails Plan, Downtown Anderson Vision Plan and the Comprehensive Plan and the update.

“This seeks to build upon and reinforce the concepts in those plans, by neighborhood, but also introduces some new aspects and ideas to the corridor per our other planning efforts such as strategies to reinforce the residential character in neighborhoods, No. 1, west of Salem Road,” he said.

The most drastic change to Beechmont Avenue in recent years was the installation of the continuous flow intersection, Donovan said. With that project completed, the most significant changes along Beechmont offered in the new document might, for example, include a reduction in curb cuts and entryways for a business, she said.

The construction work currently underway on Beechmont is included in the township’s plans and is a two-phase project.

Phase one involves work in “Downtown Anderson,” from Wolfangel to Asbury, Sievers said. That work is expected to wrap by next spring. The enhancement work includes sidewalks, streetscape improvements, decorative lighting installation and new landscaping.

Phase two of the project, expected to begin next spring, will address safety.

Goals for The Beechmont Plan include improved safety and reduced congestion along Beechmont Avenue and development of cross access.