INDIANAPOLIS - The city of Indianapolis is receiving $20 million dollars in grant money for road repair and safety improvements.
The money is coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads For All program.
Indianapolis Department of Public Works and IndyGo will also be pitching in $2.5 million each towards these improvements.
“You're going to see lower speeds for vehicles,” said Kyle Bloyd with Indy’s DPW.
“You're going to see improved pedestrian facilities as well, such as new sidewalks, better signals for pedestrians and improved bus pads. A whole host of measures.”
According to the project plans, they will be constructing 11 miles of sidewalks, 538 curb ramps, 71 bus boarding areas, along with 18 mid-block crossings.
DPW said the areas selected are ones typically underserved and are frequently experiencing vehicle accidents.
The six corridors are:
- North Post Road – Post Road between Washington St. and 38th St.
- East 30th Street – E 30th St. between Rural St. and Franklin Rd.
- Lynhurst Drive – Lynhurst Dr. between Morris St. and W 22nd St.
- East 42nd Street – E 42nd St. between Franklin Rd. and Mitthoefer Rd.
- East Franklin Road – Franklin Rd. between 30th and 42nd St.
- East Thompson Road – Thompson Rd. between East St. and Madison Ave
“These six corridors saw crashes totaling more than 400 involving an ambulance and 19 fatalities from, I believe, 2019 to 2023 — all combined,” said Bloyd.
The goal is to improve these roadways for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit users.
“I think IndyGo and Indy DPW, [as well as] the city, share common goals of wanting to make the right of way infrastructure safer for all users,” he added.
However, there is quite a bit of work to be done before DPW breaks ground on any of the sites.
“Construction is to begin as early as 2028 and will likely extend into 2029,” said Bloyd.
“Right now, the projects are only about 10% designed and so we still got a ways to go in terms of getting these projects ready to go.”