INDIANAPOLIS -- Mayor Joe Hogsett accepted an oversized facsimile check from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization for $30,468,203 in federal transit funds to pay for eight streets, roads, sidewalks and bridge projects in Indianapolis beginning in 2027.
”Bridge rehabilitation on 38th Street, on High School Road and on 46th Street,” said the mayor. “They also include a roadway rehabilitation and transformation of Madison Avenue. They include a road widening along County Line Road and a significant investment in the Knozone program.”
The most significant project may be a pedestrian bridge over Keystone Avenue at 49th Street to connect both ends of the yet-to-be-completed Nickel Plate Trail running northeast to southwest through the north side of Marion County along an abandoned railroad track.
”A crossing like this is necessary to prioritize the safety of vulnerable users of our infrastructure like pedestrians and cyclists who will use this trail,” said Hogsett.
The bridge will span Keystone Avenue which sees up to 40,000 vehicles a day.
”It will have a boost on the local economy as we have already seen developers and businesses investing along other trails in the city including our own Nickel Plate Trail,” said City-County Councilman Dan Boots, whose district will host the $4.9 million bridge project that will be constructed in conjunction with the completion of the trail which is currently more dirt path than asphalt.
On the south side, $11.8 million has been earmarked for a major transformation of Madison Avenue from Pleasant Run Parkway at Emmerich Manual High School to Martin Street, just south of the Gateway South arch that welcomes travelers to the south side near Jeff Cardwell’s Do It Best hardware store.
”This is a very heavily trafficked area,” he said. “It’s a four-lane feeder that feeds into downtown Indianapolis and it really needs attention.”
Currently, four traffic lanes and a middle turn lane often become a drag strip on late weekend nights as IMPD has been cracking down on speeders and those doing burnouts and donuts amidst crowds gathered in large Madison Avenue parking lots and leaving pedestrians exposed on hit-and-miss sidewalks.
”It definitely needs some attention to the area improvement as far as walkways, sidewalks and things,” said Cardwell. “We’ve tried to do that here in front of our business but it's not consistent along Madison Avenue. Walkways and more attention to the area is always welcomed. You got Garfield Park here in the area, the city’s oldest park, there’s a lot of trails that intersect there at Garfield Park and you’ve got the University of Indianapolis, so, any type of pedestrian connections would be welcomed.”
City officials said this most recent allocation, derived from federal gasoline tax revenues, is the largest for Marion County in the last decade and $8 million more than a similar appropriation last year.