Carmel approves St. Patrick’s tent-party street closure contingent on finalized detour with police and fire

The Board of Public Works and Safety granted conditional approval Feb. 4 for Brockway Pub’s request to close streets for its annual St. Patrick’s tent party (March 13–18), with a primary Saturday closure of about three hours. Sean McCutchen, representing Brockway Pub, said the event has run for 19 years and asked the board to permit closing both northbound lanes on Old Meridian for safety and crowd control, describing nearby detour routing via North Pennsylvania.

“My request is that you’d reconsider, because we have the ability to push traffic an eighth of a mile over to the roundabout at North Pennsylvania,” McCutchen said, noting he expects the closure would be limited and that parking and business access would remain available behind affected properties. Board members and staff discussed previous detours, private parking access, and the median-installed traffic patterns in Old Meridian that now direct traffic west to Pennsylvania.

Staff recommended approval subject to finalizing the detour route with the Carmel Police Department and Carmel Fire Department; a motion to approve on that condition passed by voice vote. The board record notes that public-safety officials typically coordinate detours for the event and that last year the mayor participated in festivities.

At the same meeting the board also approved other event permits, including the Sam Costa marathon (managed by Indy Runners and Walkers), and a separate donut-run event; engineering staff reported outstanding issues were resolved prior to the votes.