INDIANAPOLIS — Millions of dollars are going toward new ramps, sidewalks, curbs, street signals and more right now in Indianapolis in an effort to improve pedestrian safety.

“Coming out of the pandemic, we have seen nationwide an increase in crashes related to pedestrians,” said Indianapolis Dept. of Public Works Director Dan Parker.

So far this year there have been 141 crashes involving a pedestrian. Compared to this point in 2019, there had only been 122 crashes involving a pedestrian. Parker and other city leaders are taking measures to try and fight the issue.

“We have a really active program going on for pedestrian and bike safety,” Parker said.

On Friday Parker, Mayor Joe Hogsett and City-County Council President Vop Osili went over the latest part of that plan – $4.5 million for pedestrian safety improvements. All of the improvements are coming to parts of downtown Indy and the southeast area.

  • 152 ADA-compliant ramps
  • 109 crosswalks
  • 4,835 linear feet of curbs
  • 2,863 linear feet of rehabilitated sidewalks
  • 12 new street signals

A portion of the improvements were funded by federal dollars.

”These improvements would not have been possible with city dollars alone,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett.

All of these improvement comes within a half-mile of the southern corridor of the IndyGo Red Line. The improvements are meant to make the trek from bus stop to front door easier on transit riders.

Sixty intersections are slated for improvement. Parker said a variety of factors went into selecting these including crash data.

”These locations were looked at based on the fact that how many crashes that were with pedestrians or how many crashes, in general, happened at these locations,” Parker said.

As for what goes into deciding what intersection gets all or some of these improvements, Parker said that’s all in the design process.

“If a sidewalk is in good shape, we obviously don’t touch it,” Parker said. “But we do look at those places where the sidewalk is crumbling to see where we can fix it or where a curb is crumbling.”

Biking advocate Connie Szabo Schmucker knows firsthand the pedestrian and bicycle safety crisis happening across the country and here in Indy right now.

“Pedestrians and bicyclists are the most vulnerable,” she said.

As the Advocacy Director for Bicycle Garage Indy Schmucker appreciates anything to help the problem, but said there is still a lot more to be done to make streets safer for everyone. Looking into how infrastructure can create crashes is one of them. 

“If you have 10 errant drivers in this same area then there is something that allows them to be an errant driver, so you can change the infrastructure to protect people,” Schmucker said.

Here is a full list of all 61 intersections getting some sort of improvement as part of the project. DPW said all improvements should be finished by the end of the construction season.

Intersection improvements at Street 1 x Street 2
Street 1Street 2
Allen AveSouthern Ave
Applegate StSouthern Ave
Barth AvePleasant Run Pkwy N
Pennsylvania StCourt St
Delaware St9th St
East StGeorgia St
East StProspect St
East StLord St
East StLouisiana St
East StMorris St
Elm StGrove St
State StPleasant Run Pkwy N
Greer StStevens St
Greer StNorwood St
Grove StHosbrook St
West StIndiana St (all quadrants)
West StGardner Ln
West StOhio St
West StHenry St
Kelly StBoyd Ave
Prospect StEvision St
Leonard StProspect St W
Prospect StLaurel St N
Prospect StLaurel St S
Prospect StLinden St
Prospect StOlive St
Prospect StSpruce St
Prospect StSt Patrick St
Woodlawn AveSt Patrick St
Prospect StState St
Madison AveHenry St
Maryland StAlabama St
Maryland StWest St
Meridian StLouisiana St
East StMerrill St
Pennsylvania St9th St
Pennsylvania StWabash St
Delaware StNorth St
Raymond StBarth Ave
Sanders StBarth Ave
Lexington AveSpruce St
Palmer StRinggold Ave
Raymond StRinggold Ave
Raymond StNapoleon St
Raymond StGarfield Dr S
Raymond StState St
Southern AveNapoleon St
Troy AveBoyd Ave
Barth AvePleasant Run Pkwy S
Senate AveNorth St
Stevens StNoble St (W Approach)
Walker AveWade St
Alabama StWalnut St
Woodlawn AveLaurel St
Woodlawn AveOlive St
Shelby StCruft St
Shelby StHoefgen St
Hanna AveMidblock Crossing 1 (near Otterbein Ave)
Hanna AveMidblock Crossing 2
Hanna AveMidblock Crossing 3 (near Wesley Dr)
Hanna AveMidblock Crossing 4 (near State Ave)