Nickel Plate Trail Gets Funding to Downtown

INDIANAPOLIS — The City of Indianapolis will receive $5 million through the Next Level Trail grant program to construct a multiuse trail along the Nickel Plate rail corridor between 42nd and 96th streets in Indianapolis. Department of Public Works (Indy DPW) planners and engineers have applied to this program in each of the previous two grant cycles for the necessary funding to complete the trail, and the announcement of the grant award is welcomed news for project staff and neighborhoods alike.
Indy DPW will manage the construction of the Nickel Plate Trail project within Indianapolis, bringing multimodal connectivity from near the Indiana State Fairgrounds at 42nd Street to the northern county line in the form of 10.3 miles of new trail. The new infrastructure will connect to the existing Monon Trail by a link along 42nd Street. The project also includes a 0.5-mile trail spur that will connect to Sahm Park, as well as a second trail spur off of 62nd Street connecting to Eastwood Middle School.
With funding now secured from the Next Level Trails program, Indy DPW staff estimate that construction on the Nickel Plate Trail project in Indianapolis could begin construction as early as 2023, and could be complete by the end of 2024. The total project cost is estimated at more than $12 million.