The City of Fishers has a tentative late-October finish date for the work at 116th Street and Allisonville Road, which has kept the intersection down to shifted lanes since April. Two new food businesses are aiming to open on the same stretch of road later this year. Sahm's Hospitality Group's Mamacita is targeting November at 11501 Allisonville Road, and Jeff's Bagel Run expects to open its first Indiana shop at 11745 Allisonville Road by the end of the year.
If you live on the west side of Fishers, this is the season the corner you drive through every week gets finished. It's also the latest part of a larger city plan for Allisonville Road, and that plan has been arriving one cross street at a time.
What six months of lane shifts actually built
The 116th and Allisonville project started out as a roundabout. In September 2025, city officials dropped that plan after a new traffic study. They chose to extend the left-turn lanes, put in new stoplights and make other general improvements instead. The change also changed how the work happens. The roundabout design would have closed the intersection completely to shorten construction. The current project has kept the intersection open and business access open the whole time.
Rieth-Riley Construction bid $3.48 million for the work. A federal grant awarded through the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization covers $2.5 million of that.
In August, the job got bigger. On Aug. 25, the city's Board of Public Works and Safety approved a change order of about $346,000 to rebuild 12 business entrances next to the work zone, using a mix of concrete and asphalt. Project Engineer Tami Houston explained the reason to the board:
"While we were out there, we noticed a lot of the approaches to businesses … were damaged and in need of repairs. So, this change order is to add all of that into this contract, so all of it looks complete whenever we are done."
So the finished intersection will have new turn lanes and signals, plus repaired driveways into the businesses around it. Both new openings sit on Allisonville Road within a short drive of the intersection.
As of the city's road update for the week of Sept. 28, the project was still in Traffic Phase 2. That means one lane in each direction, with the Fishers Station access closed. The city says all work depends on the weather and can change. Late October is the target, not a promise. The city posts current updates at FishersIN.gov/Allisonville.
Two new tenants on the stretch around Sahm's
The center at 11501 Allisonville Road holds a piece of Fishers history. The original Sahm's Restaurant has served the community there since 1986. Sahm's Restaurant is listed at 11505 Allisonville Road. It's open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Next door, the space Sahm's concepts ran as Rockstone Pizza and Big Lug Taproom from 2013 until 2025 is turning into Mamacita. Eddie Sahm, the company's vice president of business development, told IndyStar dining reporter Bradley Hohulin that the November opening target is "ambitious." The concept came from trips to Mexico City, where Sahm liked the relaxed bars that kept beer and wine on ice in clawfoot tubs. Another model is Turner's, a downtown Indianapolis bar that Sahm's manages, which works closely with neighboring Julieta Taco Shop.
Here's what has been announced for Mamacita:
- Food: The menu focuses on Mexico and Central America, possibly with seasonal dishes inspired by Brazil and Peru.
- Tortillas: The kitchen plans to use Indiana-grown corn from Lebanon-based Sugar Creek Malt. The corn will be nixtamalized and pressed into fresh tortillas in house.
- Drinks: Longtime Sahm's beverage director Steve Simon will run the bar program, which goes beyond tequila and mezcal. Simon previously worked at Vanguard in Broad Ripple and helped open Half Liter BBQ in SoBro in 2019.
Sahm described it to IndyStar as a come-as-you-are bar that pairs carefully prepared food with high-quality cocktails.
A short way up the road, Jeff's Bagel Run is moving into 11745 Allisonville Road, just north of the 116th Street intersection. The Fishers shop will be the chain's first in Indiana. Counting Fishers, the company has 49 locations across states including Illinois, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Colorado. The company says every bagel is made from scratch in each store, proofed overnight, then boiled and baked through the day. As of early September, a spokesperson expected the shop to open by the end of the year.
These two openings join places that already anchor the corner. Yummy Bowl, a Mongolian stir-fry and Japanese restaurant, is at 11621 Fishers Station Drive. Tiger Lily 2 serves Korean and Asian-fusion food at 7262 Fishers Crossing Drive. The relocated Kroger on Allisonville Road opened in 2025 with an in-store Starbucks, a popcorn café and a Murray's Cheese shop.
How the 116th Street project fits the corridor plan
The intersection work is part of the city's Allisonville Road Corridor Revitalization plan. That plan also covers road and median improvements, the new Fishers White River Park, the Balmoral residential neighborhood and the planned AgriPark West. Here's where each piece stands, from south to north:
- 96th Street: Fishers White River Park. Open since December 2025, the park sits just west of 96th Street and Allisonville Road. It has 2.45 miles of trails, river and creek access, scenic overlooks, native plantings and a kayak launch with paved access and nearby parking. Current reported that it was finished less than a year after site work began in February 2025.
- 106th Street: AgriPark West. In April, the city approved a lease for airport-owned land near 106th Street and Allisonville Road, with a 2027 opening in view. The first phase is expected to include trails and pick-your-own crops.
- 116th Street: the intersection. Turn lanes, signals, resurfacing and 12 rebuilt business entrances, with a tentative late-October finish.
- 13400 Allisonville Road: Conner Prairie. Its reimagined Museum Experience Center opened April 3, 2026.
- 146th Street: the interchange. Hamilton County held a ribbon-cutting Sept. 14 for the 146th Street and Allisonville Road interchange, which carries 146th Street over a roundabout on Allisonville. Traffic had already been using it for several months.
The two ends of the corridor are finished, and the middle is about to be. Of the five pieces, AgriPark West is the only one still more than a season away.
Conner Prairie is busy this fall
The busiest stretch of the corridor's fall calendar is up the road at Conner Prairie. The Headless Horseman runs Thursdays through Sundays, Oct. 1 to 25, from 5 to 10 p.m. It includes the Haunted Hayride, a corn maze, carnival rides, games and live entertainment. The Reporter's Sept. 29 preview also mentions live music, magic and fire performances, plus seasonal treats from the Apple Store. Conner Prairie's own event page lists corn maze and Haunted Trail availability as "to be determined," so check before you go if those are the draw.
During the day, the Museum Experience Center has six new indoor areas, including Power of Place, Wellspring, TORN: A Family Portrait and Spark!Lab. It also added the Harvest Café and the Ricker Prairie Overlook. If you're still thinking of last summer's FOOD exhibition, it closed Sept. 13.
A Merry Prairie Holiday starts the day after Thanksgiving. It runs Nov. 27 and 28, Fridays through Sundays from Dec. 4 to 20, then daily Dec. 21 to 23 and Dec. 26 to 28. The listed activities include Historic Holidays, a projection show, the Merry Marketplace, sock skating, Reynolds Lights and Santa's Sleigh Barn.
The west side's fall, by date
- Oct. 1 to 25: Headless Horseman at Conner Prairie, Thursdays through Sundays.
- Late October: Target finish for the turn lanes, signals, resurfacing and rebuilt business entrances.
- November: Mamacita's target opening at 11501 Allisonville Road.
- Nov. 27: A Merry Prairie Holiday opens at Conner Prairie.
- By Dec. 31: Jeff's Bagel Run's expected opening at 11745 Allisonville Road.
All year, White River Park stays open just west of 96th Street, and AgriPark West is planned for 2027.
Wondering how the work at 116th and Allisonville, and the openings around it, could affect a home on the west side of Fishers? Midtown Home Collective follows this corridor closely, and we're happy to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation.
