Haughville and Martindale-Brightwood will soon have new trails and greenways designed to improve pedestrian and bicycling safety and connect underserved communities.
The Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) received a $25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to “significantly expand and enhance” pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in Marion County, according to Michael Kaufmann, project manager. The initiative is a part of the Connected Communities Initiative in collaboration with the city of Indianapolis.
The grant will be used to build new trails, connect old ones, create better pedestrian access and safety, and invest in programming partnerships, Kaufmann said. Partners include Freewheelin’ Community Bikes, Bikes Indianapolis, Greenways Partnership, Groundwork Indy and Indiana Pacers Bikeshare.
Discussions among community members, partner organizations and stakeholders about the project began in 2015. Convening with different entities has helped CICF prioritize investments to better serve people with disabilities, people of color, households without vehicles and people living in poverty because they often lack adequate infrastructure. Indianapolis and Seattle are comparable in size, Kaufmann said, but Indy has more urban sprawl, making it harder for people to get to places they need to go without adequate infrastructure. The goal Brian Payne, CICF president and CEO said, is to connect people equitably.
“There’s so many different innovations about, there’s all these tools of transportation, but most of these innovations, if they’re not a car, are not safe on the road,” Payne said. “On a busy road, even bikes against busy traffic, cars going 50 mph, that is not safe. So, this provides infrastructure that really changes people’s quality of life and their health. If they use it correctly, it’ll get them where they want to go in a safe, beautiful way. It’s about humans, not about automobiles.”
The funding will go hand-in-hand with Mayor Joe Hogsett’s $25 million investments in trails and greenways as a part of Circle City Forward Phase 3 and will include 7.25 miles of new greenways and 4 miles of on-street protected bicycle infrastructure.
The first major project begins with a 5-mile expansion of the B&O railway trail to complete a 16.65-mile corridor connecting Haughville, Hawthorne and Fairfax to Speedway and Brownsburg. It will also connect a Michigan Street bike lane to downtown and the east side. The trail is expected to be completed by the end of this year, according to CICF’s website.
In the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, planning, design and construction are still underway, but improving pedestrian and bicycle safety along Dr. Andrew J. Brown Avenue is a priority, Kaufmann said. A new path of protected bike lane will be constructed between 30th and 16th streets, as well as an off-street trail from Dr. Andrew J. Brown Avenue to Boulevard Place.
Securing funding for new projects can be the hardest part, said Kaufmann. Now, with funds secured, the next step of the projects involves getting community input.
The Grassy Creek Trail will see 1.75 miles of new trail on the far east side and 38th Street will see traffic calming interventions such as speed bumps and narrowing streets between Cold Springs Road and Meridian Street.
Improving quality of life can sometimes leads to gentrification and displacement, Payne said. Because the projects stretch across different areas of the city, investors won’t be interested in targeting individual areas to gentrify.
Along with improving trails and constructing new ones, the grant invests in several partnerships. Indiana Pacers Bikeshare will add new locations and subsidize bikeshare passes. Marion County Bike Map will provide maps of the new trials systems as well.
“We are no longer seeing our trail system as solely a recreational amenity, but part of the transportation system,” Payne said. “We want people to be able to use it, to get exercise, to socialize, to be connected with their neighbors, but also get them to where they need to go.”
Contact staff writer Jayden Kennett at 317-762-7847 or by email JaydenK@indyrecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @JournoJay.
