I have spent the lion share of construction updates for the Fall Creek Trail highlighting what is going on south of the Monon Trail. However, we should not forget that the north (or east depending on your sense of direction) is also seeing an extension to Ft Benjamin Harrison State Park.
I stopped by recently to survey the construction and was delighted to see rapid progress being made to extend the trail which currently ends inside of 465. On the outside of the beltway, significant dirt has been moved to make way for the new trail that will snake its way between Fall Creek and the parkway on a narrow sliver of dirt.
Although I am not certain of the final routing from Skiles Test Park to outside 465, it appears that there is room to route this under 465 and next to the Creek. Indeed, there is a cut through the woods which seems to indicate this is the direction that construction will take.
That’s awesome. I rode the Fall Creek Trail once several years ago and was disappointed that it didn’t extend beyond I-465.
I probably also haven’t ridden it since then because I was disappointed with the amount of vegetation growing into the existing trail and the number of blind curves due to lack of vegetation maintenance as well. Hopefully, that’s been addressed, but knowing the Parks Dept budget decreases each year, I’m not too optimistic. If only we didn’t have such an unmet need for cricket fields so that there might be another $6 million available for parks maintenance. But I guess that’s a topic for another discussion.
Anyway, I look forward to it being completed, and I hope there’s funding to keep the trail safe by keeping the vegetation trimmed.
Curt, yes…route runs near the creek under both the existing 465 and Shadeland bridges. There will be a stub up alongside Shadeland to connect to the Shadeland Ave. “sidewalk from nowhere” and to the BSA complex across Fall Creek.
The plan also calls for a lane diet on the Shafter (Boy Scout Road) bridge, where the trail ends at the “back door” of Fort Harrison State Park.
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Idyllic, as I understand it: trail, and greenway vegetation maintenance is now part of DPW, as is park facility/development planning. IndyParks is now the “activity” organization.
Wow! Then I definitely won’t hold my breath waiting for trail vegetation trimming. DPW can’t seem to even get out and trim trees that are hiding stop signs or hanging a few feet over sidewalks. When I’ve reported such items, I’ve always been told that they don’t have the manpower to do it.
I know a near northside resident who carries a bucket of graffiti-cover paint in the trunk of his car. Instead of reporting new tagging on city property, he just paints over it. Who’s going to complain?
Perhaps everyone who uses the trails and/or streets could carry a pair of clippers and contribute to the common good by taking 30 seconds to clip offending tree branches along trails and at stop signs.
Whether we like it or not, we pay for and receive a low-service government in Indy.
I’ve done a fair bit of such trimming myself, but really, who’s going to carry a pair of hedge clippers with them as they go about their regular business walking and bicycling?
I wouldn’t expect any individual to try to take on a whole trail, or any significant portion thereof. I suppose someone could try to organize a group of volunteers though. I wonder how many people might turn out to do extra work on something that most people would think that government should actually be doing.
Is any of the existing trail being upgraded during this process? Specifically the narrow, cracked, bumpy section that starts just past the Binford split.
@Dan – Agreed. That area can be downright scary on a road bike. It’s bumpy and under the Kessler/Emerson underpass, it’s also very slick. Had a friend break a hip after sliding out under that bridge. 🙁
It appears that construction has stopped on the Fall Creek Trail Extension, any reason why?
I heard that the contractor is not being paid and inspection is lax. Might see some movement on this soon
Whoops! my bad. I was referring to the section by the fairgrounds
You’ll be pleased to hear that this section was paved today! Finished a ride around 3:00 and asked a white hard hat when the section would be paved.
Said to wait and see. The trucks with the equipment and the asphalt rolled in about ten minutes later!! He said it would be ready to go in the morning.
This is a base coat over the compacted stone. A final, smoother top coat will be applied later after the base cures some.
Do you know if there will be any barrier between the trail and Fsll Creek Road on the section just East of 465?
please be aware that the Fall Creek Trail extension project is not yet finished just because the pavement is down. The contractor would greatly appreciate that all walkers, runners and bycicleist avoid the trail until construction is completed.
The scheduled completion for the trail is November but construction is running ahead of schedule.