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The Indiana Department of Transportation said Tuesday that it plans to spend $14 million to repair damage and excessive wear to downtown Indianapolis streets and infrastructure during the North Split interchange project.
The work—consisting of street resurfacing and curb and sidewalk repairs—will begin this summer and continue into 2024.
During the nearly two-year closure of portions of Interstate 65 and Interstate 70 for the $350 million North Split project, downtown roads “experienced increased wear,” INDOT said in a written statement.
With the North Split having reopened in early May, INDOT said it will soon hire contractors for resurfacing and repairs in 15 locations.
Road resurfacing expected this summer and fall is set for these locations:
– St. Clair Street, beginning west of the railroad tracks and ending at Davidson Street
– Michigan Street, beginning at the east side of Pine Street and ending at the west side of Davidson Street
– New York Street, beginning at the east side of Pine Street and ending at the west side of Davidson Street
– Davidson Street, from St. Clair Street to Massachusetts Avenue
– 10th Street, from Central Avenue to Jefferson Street
– 11th Street, from Central Avenue to College Avenue
– Central Avenue from Fort Wayne Avenue to 18th Street.
A curb and sidewalk project is also planned this summer and fall where I-65 passes over Central Avenue.
The following street resurfacing projects are planned for 2024:
– College Avenue, from the south edge of 12th Street to the Monon loop turn off
– West Street, from 11th Street to Morris Street
– Washington Street, from East Street to Southeastern Avenue
– Dorman Street, from St. Clair Street to 10th Street
– Alabama Street, from St. Clair Street to 16th Street
– 11th Street, from Meridian Street to Delaware Street.
Also in 2024, INDOT plans to improve the curb and signal at the intersection of Rural and Washington streets.
INDOT said the street segments were chosen in partnership with the Indianapolis Department of Public Works, but INDOT will hire the crews and foot the bill.
The state agency said the project will also improve bicycle and pedestrian connectivity through wider sidewalks and modern lighting. The agency spent $4 million on repairs and upgrades to Indianapolis traffic signals prior to the start of construction.
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This looks like a pretty skinny list. East St. took a beating, for example.
$14 million for this skinny list …
“In 2021, the state allocated $663 million in road funding to local governments. Marion County received just over $30 million of that, or about 4.5%, despite making up about 13% of the total state population.“
https://www.ibj.com/articles/lawmakers-amendment-to-road-funding-bill-would-allow-state-takeover-of-indianapolis
“ a report by Indianapolis-based engineering firm HNTB Corp. found the city faced an average annual funding gap of $1.07 billion for all its roads and transportation infrastructure. Not including work for residential pavements, sidewalks and pedestrian bridges, the funding gap is $195 million to $230 million annually”
https://www.ibj.com/articles/metro-mayors-join-push-to-change-states-funding-formula-for-local-roads
Data hits hard. Wow.
Pennsylvania Street needs to be added.
And Meridian between 10th and 12th. And Morris St. from West to East.
We’re all circling the same point. The roads are bad, and they will never get better without a change to how the roads are built, used, repaired, and funded. The city, the state, the nation – nobody can afford to keep building and fixing the roads, but we keep on adding Just One More Lane all over the state that we’ll never be able to afford to fix when the bill comes due Road maintenance is not even remotely affordable.
We need options that aren’t roads, and most of the roads we have need to ban large vehicles to prevent the constant damage.
I disagree. We can afford better infrastructure.
We just choose not to have it because we have situarions where the legislator in ch
Sigh.
We just choose not to have it because we have situations where the legislators in charge have decided to redirect the money to their own sparsely populated areas.
We are a state discussing tax elimination facing down these issues. We need actual leadership capable of hard discussion at the statehouse.
The Republican mantra is low taxes, small government. Poorly maintained roads is the price for this ideology. A sufficiently funded government and taxes really do matter. You get what you pay for.
But that said, given the history of the legislator, Indianapolis may never get sufficient state dollars because that would be giving money to the “woke” crowd.
Don’t forget “sell government assets to the private sector”.
Unsure what, if any, formal process the IN Dept. of Transportation used to develop their list of streets – one thing that is clear after our neighborhood met several times with IN DoT representatives at our monthly meetings showing them pictures and documentation of the extensive damage to not only roads but also signage, electronic walk signs, etc. plus pictures of the plethora of 18 wheelers and overloaded dump trucks driving down East Street and neighborhood streets to attempt to avoid the extensive back ups that occurred on East street as “truckers” continued to drive through downtown without enforcement from the State, DoT, etc. – and DoT promises to deal with these matters went nowhere – the very issues brought up by neighborhood groups to IN DoT were never addressed either pro-actively nor reactively after “associations” brought these concerns to their attention – sad to see our IN DoT leaders are so uninformed and unresponsive to the very people who moved and invested in the downtown loop – another mail in the coffin!
Another inexplicable State thumb at the nose of the capital city, the largest city, and the economic engine of this state. It makes no sense whatsoever.
What about 11th St. between Illinois and Meridian, as you come off the I-65 ramp? That needs it as much as Meridian to Delaware.
Triple that a amount would’ve been a good start.
As usual, the state craps ion Marion County. E. Washington St. became a semi-truck-superhighway for two years.