As the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) moves forward with plans to renovate a portion of the inner loop — the 4 1/2 miles of Interstates 65 and 70 that weave through downtown Indianapolis — community residents and leaders are imploring the agency to do so in a way that at least respects surrounding neighborhoods, and perhaps even reimagines the way traffic moves through the city.
The inner loop was constructed in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, and practically no one is arguing the infrastructure doesn’t need an upgrade. INDOT is starting with the north split, where Interstates 65 and 70 come together on the northeast side of the city by Chatham Arch, Old North Side and Hillside neighborhoods. These are historic, mostly Black and brown communities that were splintered by the original construction of the highways.
Leading the effort to hold INDOT accountable to the community is Rethink 65/70, a coalition of neighborhood residents, businesses, urban planners and architects. Rethink had four demands for INDOT: no above-grade walls, no new lanes, increasing neighborhood connectivity and more potential for economic development. INDOT’s “preliminary preferred alternative,” called Alternative 4c, makes progress on the first two demands, but not the last two, according to Rethink leaders.
INDOT chose Alternative 4c from a list of five plans (the full plan is at northsplit.com). The agency says its plan replaces bridges and pavement, improves safety and removes two bottleneck areas on the west side of the split, among other things. But the plan does include some above-grade walls, and although it doesn’t have new lanes, the addition of shoulders for safety would ultimately make the highway wider in some areas.
“INDOT is making no effort whatsoever to try and heal the wounds of the mistakes of 50 years ago when the state ignored common people and neighborhoods and ripped through the center of the capital city to build highways,” said Paul Knapp, who is on Rethink’s leadership team.
Scott Manning, strategic communications director for INDOT, said the agency “radically changed our approach to the project” with Alternative 4c. INDOT’s original plan released in 2017 included more lanes and 25-foot concrete walls, but community pressure prompted the agency to draw up a new list of proposals.
Without what it feels is a good enough plan from INDOT, Rethink put together its own proposal for a recessed highway that allows for neighborhoods to reconnect, which coalition leaders said would naturally lead to better economic opportunities for residents. This is the concept community activists unsuccessfully argued for in the original planning stages for the highways about 50 years ago.
That plan is for the entire downtown highway system, though, and Manning said that just isn’t feasible right now.
“What we would say at this point is that’s a much larger vision for the downtown system,” Manning said, citing engineering and funding issues as potential obstacles. “It goes well beyond what we’re looking at with the north split.”
Rethink’s leaders said they know their plan is a drastic change from what’s in place now — and even what INDOT wants to do — but they believe it’s important to set the standard for what the rest of the inner loop looks like when the time comes for more repairs.
INDOT is in the beginning stages of the design process now and will hold more public meetings. After analyzing impact to historic properties and neighborhoods, INDOT will submit its environmental documents and plans to the Federal Highway Administration. Without delays, construction could begin in 2020.
Among other things, community leaders are concerned about limited access to exits causing more congestion on city streets. Alternative 4c includes barriers that would, for example, eliminate access to the Meridian and Pennsylvania Street exit from Interstate 70. There are also issues such as neighborhood connectivity that worry leaders.
“It’s more than a transportation issue,” said Garry Chilluffo, president of Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis and a member of Rethink’s leadership team. “It’s about living conditions, health, jobs, attracting talent. If we want businesses to come here, we have to have a downtown that attracts people. What we’re talking about would set that up.”
David Pflugh, president of Chatham Arch Neighborhood Association, said another option is converting the highway into a ground-level boulevard with traffic lights. Pflugh believes that would increase connectivity between neighborhoods and improve safety.
“Everybody is very concerned about it,” Pflugh said of Chatham Arch residents. “… There’s a lot of area that’s affected. What we would like to see is something that’s an improvement over what’s there now. INDOT’s criteria is not worse than what’s there, but we would like them to do better.”
Roberta Avidor, 64, moved into Chatham Arch with her husband in September 2017 and said she supports the idea of a boulevard and rerouting normal highway traffic to Interstate 465, which is surrounded by more commercial land. Avidor moved from the Minneapolis and St. Paul area in Minnesota, where an urban highway system fractured neighborhoods like it did in Indianapolis.
“The least they could do is to start removing them and diminishing them,” Avidor said of the highways, “so we could re-connect our neighborhoods again and make the quality of life better for those affected by this horrible mistake.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
Rethink 65/70, a community coalition, came with its own proposal for what the downtown interstate system should look like, including a recessed highway that reconnects neighborhoods. (Photo provided)
