Fall Creek Trail – Construction Update 6

Most construction on the trail appears to be complete, so it’s a good time for a follow up post.  See earlier posts on the construction by Curt Ailes here.

I like the signage, and blue color theme to contrast with the red color of the Monon Trail:

Photo Credit: Chris Corr
Photo Credit: Chris Corr
Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner
Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner

Nice bioswale here:

Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner
Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner

Not sure why the benches face the parking lot instead of the creek:

Photo Credit: Chris Corr
Photo Credit: Chris Corr

Both of the parking lots feature a bit more asphalt than I would like to see. I’m not sure if the turnaround is needed here, and the other lot has a separate exit and entrance. By the way, pulling out of this lot onto Fall Creek Parkway feels very dangerous:

Photo Credit: Chris Corr
Photo Credit: Chris Corr

The 30th Street Underpass:

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The crosswalk across College is not very well marked yet, and I hope this remains to be upgraded:

Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner
Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner

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After leaving the portion of the trail near College Avenue, I was curious to see the place where the trail intersected with the Monon Trail. I was surprised see that there was not a sign along the Monon for the Fall Creek Trail, as the part to the north has been constructed for years:

Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner
Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner

Monon Bridge Underpass. I love the Monon Bridges, so I had to get a shot of this:

Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner
Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner

The neighborhood to the north of Fall Creek has a ton of old apartment buildings in various stages of repair. Here’s a remodeled complex, just in front of a long-abandoned building:

Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner
Photo Credit: Kevin Kastner

I hope the Fall Creek Trail can lead to more investment along the parkway, and I’m happy to see this connection exists between the Monon and Fall Creek Place. I believe a weekend bike ride to Goose The Market will soon be in order.

Comments 7

  • I had my first walk along the new trail on a beautiful spring day, after walking its course with friends several times in the years before it was built. Counting the Ft. Harrison State Park, there’s 11.3 miles of trail from 25th & Meridian to the Village at Fort Harrison (where Ivy Tech and Triton Brewing are located), all within Marion County. (The Lawrence trail extends almost a half mile beyond the Village to Lee Road Park at about 6100 Lee Rd.)

    This trail is the centerpiece of “Destination Fall Creek”: http://dfcindy.org/about/

    Shameless plug: watch for news of “Celebration Fall Creek”, a day this fall of neighborhood events stretching from Downtown to Lawrence along the trail.

  • The trail kicks some serious butt. My one big problem is the crossing at College. As you note, they haven’t made the presence of a major trail crossing obvious to vehicles, something like the inlaid asphalt patterns we see for the Cultural Trail. But more fundamentally, I feel like they should have reworked the crossing. If they pushed the vehicle stop line back to the south, they could have shortened the crossing distance by making the crossing perpendicular to College. That also would have been a big signal to vehicles that there’s something different about this intersection.

    Even without that intersection change — which might not have been feasible because it likely would have required alterations to the block wall on the east side of College — right-turns-on-red need to be prohibited for northbound College to protect trail crossings. That’s an easy fix that can be done right now.

    • Agreed. Good trail, but the College intersection is a sticking point. I notice it every time I bike up to it. Regardless of whether the light is green or not, my danger sense gets very high at that spot. The white stripes should be replaced with a green lane. Should probably add signage warning drivers to watch for trail traffic as well. Not sure if prohibiting right on red is necessary, but it’s not a bad idea.

      Very glad this trail is here. I love it for my daily commute.

      • I agree that the College Ave crossing should be improved by moving back the stop line for NB cars and adding a more distinct paving material, or at least green paint or something to alert drivers to the possible presence of trail users. Of course, drivers should be expecting peds & bikes at every crosswalk, right? Oh yeah, it’s Indy, so I guess not.

        I drive this section of College a lot, and I can’t remember seeing anyone cross here. I hope that changes soon with the trail being completed, and I hope they all make it across safely. It’s too bad the trail couldn’t be accommodated under the College Avenue bridge instead.

        And I agree with Chris Corr that right turns on red should be prohibited there, with the installation of a lot of signs to make sure nobody has the excuse of not realizing it. Any time you have two lanes that can turn right, it’s a sure sign that it’s going to be a treacherous place to cross the street. The trail users deserve as much protection as can be reasonably given here.

  • Kevin – you also note that exiting the parking areas onto FCParkway feels awfully dangerous. I’m not sure there’s a good solution for 30th and Fall Creek Park. They seem to recognize the issue as the concrete at the vehicle entrance only allows right-in and right-out movements.

    For the parking lot between Central and College, I wonder if a light at Park would be a good long-term solution. That would serve the dual purpose of controlling vehicle entrance and exit of the parking lot as well as providing a safe crossing from Mapleton-Fall Creek over to the park and trail. I would argue that the suicide lane of FCParkway also shouldn’t exist between Central and College, but that’s a whole other discussion.

    • Correct…here, I’m speaking mainly as a driver of a manual transmission car. Having to have a foot on the clutch and hitting the gas at a steep incline to join with fast-moving vehicles just feels frightening to me.

    • Re the suicide lane…it was removed from New Jersey to just past Central when Central was converted to two-ways north of the Parkway.

      Extending that removal up to College makes sense. Converting it into a set of left-turn boxes along with adding a light at Park is a good idea.

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