The DPW has a new non-automobile oriented multi-use path planned along 62nd street. The path once completed, will start and end at Keystone Ave and Allisonville Rd. It will also facilitate a safe path from Allisonville Road’s bike lanes across to Keystone and once restriped, down bike lanes that will be painted along Broad Ripple Ave. This should make a trip from the NE side to the Monon Trail, a much easier ride once completed.
According to the DPW’s website, the project is set to begin in Spring of 2011 with wrap up occuring in the fall. The project will cost in the neighborhood of $1 million and will be 100% federally funded.
I have attached a .PDF of the detailed plan (click the picture) that displays the routing along the south side of 62nd street and through existing front yard territory. Thus far, I have not read about any outcry from residents of this area, but the trail WILL service an existing school halfway between Keystone & Allisonville, so the NIMBY’s should be hard pressed to come up with a real gripe about this project.
It should be interesting to see how the design addresses what is essentially a drainage ditch at this point in time. As always, keep your knob tuned in here at Urban Indy where we strive to keep you up to date on projects such as this, which promote alternative modes of transportation to the automobile.
Interesting. BRAG just announced a similar path for 71st St. east of Binford.
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In order to have a trail SYSTEM, it has to be all connected. 62nd/BR makes some sense because it connects the Allisonville bike lane to both the Canal and Monon trails near Broad Ripple & Winthrop/Westfield. Why the 71st St. lane didn’t connect Allisonville to 71st & Binford first is beyond me.
Looks like it’s all existing right of way except a small portion near Allisonville, so NIMBY’s, if any, will little leverage to hold this up.
It would have been nice to see them build this in the outside vehicle lane between Keystone and Rural a la the Cultural Trail, as the street width in that stretch is really excessive. Can’t complain though, this looks like a nice project. I’ll echo the comment about BRAG’s path project also. I don’t understand why they chose to do the portion east of Binford first, even more so now in light of this project. They only have funding for one portion right now, but hopefully the whole thing will get done soon.
Wow. What a suprise! A drainage ditch is along the road. Didn’t any of the civil engineers in this state learn about curb and gutter during school?
I am a civil engineer and I am actively working to keep drainages open. Out here the curb and gutter has evolved into the flush or the notched curb. The era of natural drainage systems has arrived and the planet will be the better for it.
Good point Peter. I like the idea of more exposed systems, especially in urban environments (best design aspect of the Cultural Trail IMO). Seems like more of these PATH projects should be taking place in Indy, given that the area is suitable. And 62nd street would seem to be very deserving. I can’t imagine the NIMBY reaction on such a project anything but very extremely favorable! But I guess a NIMBY is a NIMBY. What is with people not realizing both curb appeal and an increase in property values??
Micah. I am what you refer to as a NIMBY but you probably would also object to these open sewers with no outlet in your front yard. May you can also be so lucky that the City builds your very own “wetlands” in your front yard. I find your comments both irresponsible and idiotic. These trails that you openly promote also drop the maintenance upon the homeowner’s whose land they cross. Maybe you should spend less time writing and more time donating your services to weeding for the people you refer to as NIMBYs
Terry, anatagonizing comments will be removed at Urban Indy’s discretion so be careful how you phrase your comments.
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You have the right to feel the way you want about your property being encroached upon. That said, I don’t understand the comment about maintenance. Don’t you arelady either mow or trim weeds along your frontage? I cannot see a paved trail being that much more work as far as keeping grass and weeds at bay. Not only that, it opens up your neighborhood to more active lifestyles and access to more places without having to get in your car to go there. In my book, those are all win-win situations. Perhaps you do not share our perspective but that is how we view projects like this.
Curt,
I currently don’t have to shovel snow snow from a 10 foot wide path or pick up trash from path users. Maybe you folks can show up with some snow shovels next winter or the trail users might take their trash and dog crap with them unless you and Micah want to volunteer for clean-up duty. My main comment involved Micah’s belief that we should drain and trap water on the adjoining lands. Maybe she is fine with a pool in her basement but I am not. This is stupid to even suggest that landowners have the additional burden of City created “wetlands”. Just the mosquito problems associated with this comment are alarming. Maybe I do not share your perspective but I don’t think any of your comments are generated by people with trails in the own yards. It is the irresponsible ideas like Micah’s that create bad projects that then fall to the burdened landowners. The initial drainage plans for the 62nd Street trail had water running uphill. This is quite a trick even for Indianapolis City” Engineers”.
There are some potential long-term problems with exposed/natural drainage systems: invasive plants (formerly known as “weeds”), and silt/soil deposition.
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Common invasive plants such as thistle, poison ivy, honeysuckle, euonymous, mulberry and tree-of-heaven are likely to get a foothold in un-maintained open stormwater features in Indiana. Unlike a concrete gutter system, it’s not possible to run a mechanized “flush and sweep” operation to fix the problem. Invasive removal is a time-consuming manual operation which downsizing city governments don’t have the money to pay for.
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Over the very long run, deposition of dust, silt, sand, and fine gravel from road runoff will affect the storage and handling capacity of “green gutter” systems: when dirty water is slowed (or when its handling relies on percolation), sediment falls out of suspension. Even more problematic is the salt accumulation that will eventually kill all but the hardiest salt-tolerant plants.
Much of the motivation with green infrastrucure is to meet Clean Water Act provisions. Conventional systems that divert, collect, and treat the water are what cities can’t afford. The issues you identified are minor challenges that can be addressed through good design and minimal maintenance.
Maintianing curbside gardens is not minimal or trivial. It has to be done by a person, by hand. The City can’t afford to maintain its existing tree lawns where they exist, and suburban counties have a hard time getting landowners to maintain drainage ditches. I don’t think they will be successfully able to force property-owners to weed stormwater-handling features, either. The Cultural Trail has a maintenance endowment partly for this purpose.
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I’m familiar with various water regulations and have been working on local policy solutions for quite a few years now. One vexing issue is that urban nonpoint source pollution (contaminated runoff, such as parking-lot and street runoff containing salt and automotive fluids) can cause contaminated surface water or groundwater if it isn’t treated in some manner.
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There are “green” bio-remediation solutions, but it’s not as simple as planting some pretty stuff in a wide gutter enclosure. The “neighborhood scale” solution represented by the pilot project near College & Fall Creek may be a lower-cost solution than blocks and blocks of “green gutters”. It’s more compact/concentrated than a mile of “green gutter”, so it’s cheaper to monitor and do the maintenance.
You raise some good, interesting points Chris. I guess we can just all admit the most sustainable aspect for Indianapolis’ future is smarter-higher density development, so the tax base can actually maintain these systems, while standards of living increase—due to more attractive/accessible communities that are created. It’s a matter of time for many suburban systems to price themselves out…economically and socially.
Oh, another point though. The Cultural Trail ‘green gutters’ is a system used in many more ways than the pilot project by Fall Creek. Some functional but more importantly, perception changing.
Agreed Micah. In high-density, high-attention areas like downtown, those features are good ones to have and they demonstrate in a visible way the new possibilities.
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But to replace existing ditches (which are vegetated swales already) in a lower-density area with lots of open space (as on 62nd st.) with high-maintenance features is a bad idea. A permeable pavement path with lots of storage under it combined with a couple of constructed wetlands (to capture street runoff) is probably a better solution.
Just found this blog. So glad I did. I’m enjoying the conversation immensely. Great work everyone! Your opinions and expertise ARE making our city a better place to live…little by little…project by project.
I wish the connection carried over to the Fall Creek trail east of Binford. I live near Cathedral and riding my bike to Broad Ripple is a pretty frustrating experience. Kessler Blvd, 56th Street and 62nd Streets are all narrow-laned and heavily travelled. The layout of subdivisions and limited crossing points across Binford prohibit other routes.
I recently received word that this will be bidding in July with costruction to begin in August sometime. Im anxious to see some dirt begin moving on this project.
I was wondering about that. Is it going to be finished this year with such a late start?
I dont know how long it is going to take them. Apparently, a lot of time has been spent purchasing land for the project which is why it has not started. Hopefully, they can work into the cold months to try and get it finished so that maybe we will be able to take full advantage when warm weather breaks next spring
Any recent word on this project? It will be nice to be able continue past Keystone on a bike. As of now, there is no good way to get to Allisonville without cutting through neighborhoods.
Ultimately, I would love for the 62nd Street bikeway to contine across Binford and have some sort of connection to the Fall Creek Trail. It would be great to be able to ride from Broad Ripple to the moutain bike trails at Ft. Harrison!
I have heard that construction was going to start this spring. But there has been no official word on when it will start, to my knowledge.
It should start this year…probably late summer and will continue east to Allisonville.
Thanks for the updates guys.