John Tuohy

john.tuohy@indystar.com

UPDATE, 10:50 a.m.: Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness and Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear announced plans Tuesday to build a trail on the Nickel Plate rail corridor that connects the two Hamilton County cities.

The Nickel Plate trail would cost $9.3 million and stretch 9.2 miles through the two cities. Public hearings will be held in March.

It will take six to 18 months to receive federal approval to remove tracks through a "rail banking" process.

Fadness said the Nickel Plate trail would rival the Monon and Cultural trails for accessibility.

EARLIER STORY

Officials on Tuesday are expected to announce a plan to convert the Nickel Plate rail line into a greenway through Fishers and Noblesville, much like the Monon Trail in neighboring Carmel.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness and Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear will make the announcement at 10:30 a.m. at 9 Municipal Drive, Fishers. Hamilton County commissioners are also scheduled to attend.

Representatives from the offices of the mayors would not comment on the plan, but the cities have been studying how to rebuild the corridor into a pedestrian and bicycle trail. The move also signals the State Fair train, which was canceled last year, is likely done for good.

Fishers City Councilman Pete Peterson said the plan calls for ripping out the rails and replacing them with a trail that would run from Noblesville's northern border through much of Fishers.

Converting the tracks to a trail was discussed two weeks ago by commissioners at their regular meeting. President Christine Altman said Noblesville and Fishers approached her about it, and that Fishers has retained a law firm to look at property rights along the tracks.

A trail from 96th to 146th Street is included in Fishers long-range bicycle and pedestrian plan and may be hastened by the poor condition of the Nickel Plate tracks. The Indiana Heritage Port Authority, which ordered the Indiana Transportation Museum to ground the Indiana State Fair Train last summer, said it would cost up to $5 million to repair the tracks so trains can run on them again. The authority is seeking bids from a new operator for the train, but Noblesville and Fishers officials think it may be more expedient to scrap the track altogether, sources who are familiar with the plan said.

County Commissioner Steve Dillinger said he doesn’t oppose converting the tracks to trails but said the timing was wrong because of other massive government projects in the works, such as the rebuilding of Ind. 37 and an addition to the county courthouse in Noblesville.

“We have enough big things on our plate right now,” Dillinger said.

The Fishers long-range plan identified the Nickel Plate corridor as "an opportunity for a direct route through the community," that would provide "quick connections" to neighborhoods.

Altman said at the commissioners meeting that she would like community input about what to do with the Nickel Plate corridor. She said there is a process, called “rail banking,” in which tracks can be converted to trails with the option of being used again for trains if circumstances change.

The transportation museum also runs special trains between Noblesville and Tipton for dinner cruises, school excursions and a pumpkin train in the fall.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418 and follow him on Twitter @john_tuohy.

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