Georgia Street Plan

Most readers are probably already aware of the plan to reconfigure Georgia Street, but if you haven’t seen it, take a look here. It’s a fine idea, as the street has little auto traffic, and the pedestrian environment downtown could certainly use a place that serves as an outdoor room. I hope it can be successful long past the Super Bowl.

Comments 8

  • I commented over on the article, but I would much prefer if they did away with vehicle traffic altogether or at least restricted it to hotel/delivery traffic. Maybe make hotel turnarounds so it isn't through traffic. Putting in a sidewalk in the middle of a regular street is poor use of $12.5M, in my opinion. Connect the two big pedestrian venues (Conseco and convention center) with a pedestrian only mall.

  • I'm hoping that the street can be easily transformed to become a pedestrian venue for special events. I am not sure about closing it down to cars permanently.

  • I think doing away with any vehicular traffic would be a bad idea. Good urban design should certainly design better environments for people, but just to get rid of cars in this situation would be simply idealistic, not realistic. As long as the design is bold enough, you need not get rid of vehicles totally. There are not enough special events and residential density along that street to warrant it as a NO CAR ZONE. When a huge event takes place, by all means, close it down for pedestrians only. Maximizing the space to it's fullest = GOOD URBAN DESIGN.

  • There is something depressing about a vacant pedestrian mall, which I fear this area would be except for the special events. even weekends do not generate enough pedestrian traffic to fill the space as one of the drawings suggested. Yes, include the cars when it make sense.

    There is also something of an urban disconnect when you walk so many of the downtown blocks where the streets are wider than the buildings are tall. so much of the downtown is lacking in density needed for visual energy. Too many undeveloped or underutilized sites. the Georgia street plan is quite a good one with just the right scale of street to buildings to use. Indy has a real need to tighten the weave of the urban fabric.

  • Hopefully this will result in something more appropriate going in on the southern corner of Penn. and Georgia St. than an Indiana Police Museum (yuck)…. that building appears ripe for upper floor office space or apartments, and street level retail or restaurants. Hopefully some private (re?)development will follow all along the corridor on the heels of this great plan.

  • The plan looks fine with a good mix street furniture amenities. My concern is the execution and maintenance. I recently walked across Pan American Plaza and was shocked at the crumbling concrete and bricks. It looks terrible. I've lived in Boston where the winters really do a job on paving, etc. but this is rediculous; too little upkeep and materials that were untested for wear.

    The same impression struck me as I looked closely at the construction of the housing stock along the canal; poorly built, badly maintained and looks cheap.

  • i like the idea but will be a waist. one of my ideas and i'm sure others to is have the city shave down the asphalt to expose the old trolley tracks and rebuild the roads and tracks. most of our downtown streets have rails 4" or less below the surface. you can see them on ohio street east of Penn down to collage. a bit of one on delaware just a few feet north of ohio in a small chuck hole and the reason collage has that high hump in the road is due to the rails. most of the tracks still there and most of the roads around downtown need a complete redo so why not bring those back to life or just for cosmetic reasons? They could run old restored interurban's/trolley's like St. Pete, FL.

    Another thought for that money would used is to restore the tracks from 22nd st south to 10th st, rebuild the rail bridge over 10th st (It can be one that is no longer in use to save cost and to be green. plenty of them around that would fit.) and lay tracks along the ROW west of the tracks that go past Union Station so we can get back to union station. it'll also give us a head start on the light rail system.

    i know the transportation museum has around 10 old interurbans in various stages of restoration and a couple ready to go once the line has overhead power again.

    Would it not be better spent on something like that and used more often than that pretty couple blocks? The rail line would be a better long term investment of "free" money.

  • Anon, I don't really disagree that this money could be better used somewhere else. But, perhaps giving people a great pedestrian experience in the heart of downtown will get them thinking about that and maybe they would be more supportive of complete streets in their neighborhoods.

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