Station Design & Service Q’s for Washington Street BRT
Posted by Curt Ailes in Neighborhoods, Pedestrian, Transit on Jun 18th, 2013 | 3 comments
Back in January I hypothesized about what BRT along Washington Street might look like, envisioning the future from 30000 ft of what service might look like and how stations might look. Since then, I have put on my engineering hat to think about how we plan for the stations along the route. Additionally, how might those stations look? Would they resemble covered shelters like what we currently have on the sidewalk? Would they resemble “island” stations similar to what we might find in Cleveland along the Healthline?
To narrow down these answers, we must first consider some assumptions....
IndyGo to go Interactive
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Transit on Jun 17th, 2013 | 1 comment
Last week, during the roll-out for the brand new IndyGo line on 86th Street, a very exciting bit of news was mentioned in the IndyStar article on a related subject.
Aside from the route changes, IndyGo riders can also expect real-time bus arrival information available through its website, text messaging and a smartphone app later this year, IndyGo officials said.
Urban Indy has pushed for this in the past. We intend to hold them to this promise, as it could be a game changer. Occurrences like this one could be made less painful if IndyGo were to become more interactive. We will post again once...
Fall Creek Trail Extension – Construction Update 2
Posted by Curt Ailes in Bicycling, Pedestrian on Jun 17th, 2013 | 7 comments
Back in March we reported that construction was underway on the Fall Creek Trail extension from the intersection of the Monon Trail, southward. I am happy to bring to you some updated photos from those efforts. The photos for this post were taken where the trail will intersect at the Monon Trail. Next time, I will highlight efforts further south of here.
As you can see from the photos, the trail will pass underneath of the large red bridge and meet the existing Fall Creek Trail near where the ramp up to the Monon begins. This will provide a seamless link for users travelling from points north on...
June 2013 Wallpaper
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Jun 12th, 2013 | 0 comments
Sorry for the rent check being late this month. Enjoy this view from the Ohio Street IndyGo stop in downtown Indy!
2560 x 1600
1280 x 853
1280 x 1024
1366 x...
Better Blocks (recap)
Posted by Graeme Sharpe in Neighborhoods on Jun 12th, 2013 | 0 comments
Thanks again to everyone who arranged, volunteered, or attended the Better Blocks event on East Washington last weekend. It was great fun to see so many people there and even more fun to see the result – Indianapolis’ Main Street full of life, activity, and happy citizens.
I was only a spectator myself, but was happy to see so many friends actively engaged with the event. That afternoon I met up with Kevin and we explored, chatted with friends, and had a good time imagining what Indianapolis could become if we embraced policies that prioritized healthy communities instead of merely...
B-Cycle Bike Share Coming to Indy
Posted by Curt Ailes in Bicycling, Pedestrian on Jun 11th, 2013 | 21 comments
According to the agenda for this week’s Board of Public Works meeting, B-Cycle LLC will be awarded $1.5 million for professional services related to the “Indianapolis Cultural Trail Bike Share”. $1 million of this will come from a CMAQ grant with the remaining $500k unknown at this point in time. According to prior communications, it could be whomever has been selected as the local title sponsor for the service.
We do not have any concrete details at the moment regarding the size and scope of the service, but according to anonymous sources, the system could have as many as 25...
IndyGo launches Northside Crosstown Route
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Jun 10th, 2013 | 2 comments
Today, IndyGo began service of the new crosstown along 86th street (click to open .pdf) on the north-side of Indianapolis. The service, one of the few of the fixed services which does not run through downtown, connects a number of north-side spoke routes along 86th street providing access to a multitude of jobs, medical facilities, grocery stores and other retail options. Additionally, the growing number of apartment complexes on the north-side now have a new option to get to and fro without having to fight automobile congestion which is rampant at most times during the day, whether it is rush hour or...
Walk Urban Indy
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Pedestrian on Jun 10th, 2013 | 2 comments
A new organization has been formed to promote neighborhood walking groups called Walk Urban Indy. They are starting their first group walk in the Watston-McCord neighborhood, which has an upcoming event on Saturday, June 15th from 9am to 3pm. I will quote from their website to give more information about the group’s mission:
The WUI Plan
At the most basic level, WUI will assist in the organization of local walking groups and provide a collection of mapped routes of varying distances within a neighborhood so that new walkers can start slow and build up both speed and distance. The routes are...
Better Blocks – East Washington Street (UPDATE)
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Bicycling, Neighborhoods, Pedestrian, Transit on Jun 5th, 2013 | 9 comments
This Saturday, a block of East Washington Street near Rural will be transformed under the Better Blocks program. This is the first installment of this idea in Indianapolis, which intends to engage residents in the potential for a new vision for their streetscapes.
These renderings are lifted from their facebook page, and were put together by our friends at Urbn Dsgn.
And here are some other images that we have received via e-mail:
Not only the streetscape will be transformed, but even the Pizza Hut will be transformed to an Italian restaurant. A brand new tamale place is also open just in...
Broad Ripple’s Cornell Ave Improvement Project
Posted by Curt Ailes in Bicycling, New Development, Pedestrian, Transit on Jun 4th, 2013 | 17 comments
Indianapolis DPW is planning an improvement to Cornell Ave, located in Broad Ripple Village, just north of the Central Canel. The project aims to repair damaged streets and sidewalks and mitigate long-standing drainage problems in a project that should yield more than what might otherwise, in some cases, be simple remedial improvements.
The project scope is defined in terms of improving drainage, walkability and ease of parking. The project area is defined as Cornell Ave from the Central Canal to 67th Street at the Indianapolis Art Center.
According to plans obtained by Urban Indy, the entire...
