‘Tactical urbanism’ concept in an Indianapolis neighborhood slows traffic

Indianapolis, Indiana – On Indianapolis’ east side, temporary flood barriers are now bordering 10th Street to assist make the street traffic-safe.

The project was overseen by the Community Heights Neighborhood Association. The group engaged in “tactical urbanism” and put in place temporary solutions in order to persuade the local authority to come up with a long-term fix.

According to the case’s organizers, 10th Street’s wide route encourages vehicles to drive recklessly and at high speeds. Occasionally, vehicles will pass through or proceed in the left-turn lane.

The project was led by Leslie Schulte, president of the Community Heights Neighborhood Association. Vehicles behave like dragsters. They consequently believe they can go faster when they see this vast open road. Nothing is in front of me. Do cars obey the law if we break it up? Is that what we’re actually attempting to test here? Is the speed limit observed?

A mile-long stretch of 10th Street between Emerson and Arlington avenues will have some obstacles in the shape of diamonds. Due to concerns about road width, a bike lane barrier will only run from Ritter to Arlington avenues.

To promote safer driving there, another installation will be erected on 16th Street in front of Anna Brochhausen School 88 of Indianapolis Public Schools.

Andy Nielsen, a Democrat running for a district seat on the Indianapolis City-County Council, stated, “I think we can see a number of automobiles traveling pretty rapidly down 10th Street as we are sitting here right now. It has been a persistent problem.
The majority of the work must be concentrated on the direction east toward Arlington. On Tuesday, the bike lane barriers had not yet been set up.

According to Nielsen, 10th Street is extremely risky because (truck speeds while honking). There is one there, as you can see. He is moving quickly through.

The water barriers are a short-term solution that will allow the local authorities to gather more data and think about long-term changes.

“At one point in time,” recalled Schulte, “someone was speeding down the center-turn lane, and they were going in excess of 100 mph.”

Three unofficial bollards were the first officially recognized example of tactical urbanism in Indianapolis. These were put in near the I-65 on-ramp at 12th and Illinois streets in the spring. On Illinois, that block is the only one devoid of movable bollards enforcing the bike lane. Carloyn Kawada was riding her bike, as she does every day, along Illinois to go home from work. She claimed that she feels safer now that there are bollards to prevent autos from hitting bikers.

I truly value them, Kawada said, “just so cars won’t ram into me when I’m waiting for the light.” This intersection appears to be the most dangerous since drivers only want to get onto the expressway.

These initiatives are permitted by the city’s tactical urbanism program, but they are funded by the neighborhood where they are located.

By means of the Indianapolis Neighborhood Infrastructure Partnership Program, the city contributes to a 50% financing match. According to Daniel Stevenson with the Department of Public Works, “This will actually provide neighborhoods with an easier route to get that funding to do these projects that they think they would like to see.”

Painting the streets and bike lanes to draw attention to specific locations is another example of tactical urbanism that can be seen in Indianapolis.

On Saturday, work on the Community Heights project will continue.

By submitting a form to the Department of Public Works, anyone interested in applying for a new tactical urbanism project can do so.