Full trails ahead!
On September 16th, City County Councilor Zach Adamson arranged a presentation at Center Point Brewing to share information about the recently approved trail package. Daniel Parker, the Executive Director of DPW, took attendees beyond the basics of the plan and into some of the exciting details of what is the single-largest investment in trails and greenways Indianapolis has ever seen.
The first point Parker covered was the source of the $25 million that is being devoted to trails. It turns out these dollars came from funds saved by the City of Indianapolis in anticipation of lost revenue from pandemic tax. Although Indy pulled in the reigns knowing dark days were ahead and set aside funds for when revenue fell in the future.
On March 11th, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), delivering $65.1 billion of direct and flexible aid to America’s cities, towns and villages. Indianapolis itself will receive $232,410,707, and the funds can be used to address the negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency and replace lost public sector revenue, allowing the emergency money that had been saved to instead support the kind of projects cities always want to take on, but which can feel hard to spend on when there are so many other needs for a limited budget.
The city’s love of trails and need for more spaces to move and play were both made particularly apparent during the lockdown, and Parker was pleased to share that the decision to spend these savings on trail was unanimous among City County Councilors.
Of the nine projects listed in Circle City Forward Phase III, three are fully funded from design to inspection, meaning that the complete construction will be provided for in the current investment. The remaining six are funded for design, allowing the city to get a solid start in plans that will allow future grants and funding options to move forward with a plan in place. There is also money set aside in additional line items for right of way engineering, additional construction, and land acquisition.
Pogue’s Run and B&O Trails will be fully completed, connecting to the Monon, Cultural Trail, a future protected bikeway on West Michigan, the White River Greenway, and the Eagle Creek Greenway.
Pleasant Run Greenway will get a full rehab and be extended to Bluff Road. A connection on Bluff Road will be constructed to the future mountain bike park in Frog Holler.
The City of Indianapolis gained control of former Nickel Plate right of way and will fully fund its design. The city now owning the right of way means that the project will score better in future grant applications to secure funding for construction.
Grassy Creek Trail will be a north-south connector on the Far East Side, connecting the Pennsey Trail and the future Purple Line and Blue Line, a boon for Bus Rapid Transit users. The city still needs to buy land to bring this to completion.
The Monon-Pogue’s Connector will allow for a seamless connection from the Pogue’s Run Greenway to the Monon Greenway without having to go all the way down to 10th Street. This is a big deal for residents in the Eastern neighborhoods.
The Interurban Trail will also go through design to become ready for grant funding. This will include a road diet of the six lane-Madison Expressway.
West 30th Street will get a conversion to a two-way street and a bikeway treatment - a partnership project between the Department of Public Works and IndyGo to improve overall accessibility and transit.
