INDIANAPOLIS — Mayor Joe Hogsett joined the Indianapolis Department of Public Works (Indy DPW) to highlight the completed Monon Trail bridge over 38th Street. This project will improve the safety of both trail users and motorists by removing the need for pedestrians and cyclists to cross 38th Street travel lanes.
Several years in the making, this project required extensive coordination with neighboring community organizations, the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indiana Department of Transportation, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization. A $2.4 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) was usd to help fund the project.
With a construction cost of nearly $4.6 million, this project also includes 700 linear feet of new sidewalks along 38th Street, improved trail connections on both sides of 38th Street, and a Pacers Bikeshare station just north of the bridge.
The bridge design pays tribute to the city’s Monon rail heritage with a pedestrian walkway resembling railroad tracks and Monon signage in front of Boulevard Station Depot.
The Monon Trail is one of the busiest urban greenways in the nation with more than 1.3 million users annually. It is a key link in the Indianapolis Greenways master plan, connecting 10-miles of neighborhoods from Downtown to northern Marion County, including the Near Northside, King Park, Hillside, Mapleton-Fall Creek, Meridian-Kessler, Broad Ripple, the North Central neighborhood, and Nora.
Indy DPW also has several trail projects expected to start in 2021. Those projects include the second phase of the Fall Creek Trail expansion, which will connect with phase one at Burdsal Parkway to the White River Trail at Indiana Avenue. Also expected is the expansion of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. This multimodal trail will expand along South Street and Indiana Avenue as well as provide additional stations and bikes for the Pacers bike share program.
Last year, the Pennsy Trail was extended through Irvington to Cumberland on the east side. Other trails in Indianapolis include the Central Canal Towpath, White Rive Wapahani Trail, and Eagle Creek Trail. The Cultural Trail downtown links several cultural areas and links up to the Monon at 10th St. on the near eastside.
