Mayor announces $55M in road, sidewalk fixes 9.10.10

The Indianapolis Star

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard today announced the first batch of projects in the city's RebuildIndy initiative.

The $55 million package of street, sidewalk and bridge projects is spread around the city, with many side streets selected for resurfacing as well as some major roads. Ballard also announced a $2 million set of projects that will improve traffic flow and pedestrian access in targeted areas along Michigan Road from Cold Springs Road to 86th Street -- a stretch with few sidewalks -- and along 71st Street and Westlane Road in the same area.

The projects kick off an aggressive infrastructure improvement program. (See a list of the projects announced today.) The mayor's office anticipates spending more than $500 million on such projects in coming years, largely funded by proceeds from the pending sale of the city's water and sewer systems to Citizens Energy Group, a nonprofit trust, and stimulus money.

The utilities transfer is awaiting approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission after winning the City-County Council's OK earlier this year. Among its selling points for Ballard is the money to fund infrastructure improvements -- though Ballard has said the city's needs are so great that the money won't cover them all.

"This is going to be a multiyear project that is going to really enhance our quality of life," Ballard said to a crowd under the sun outside Wishard Health Services' Pecar Center, 6940 N. Michigan Road. The audience included neighborhood group leaders, AARP representatives and many potential contract bidders.

The Michigan Road improvements are separate from the larger group of projects and will be covered under federal appropriations and grants, along with a local grant match. Among four projects -- one was already completed in the spring -- is the construction of a pedestrian trail from Cold Springs Road to Kessler Boulevard, which the city says will help connect area neighborhoods to Michigan Road. That project is based on a walkability survey conducted in the spring by the AARP and other groups.

David Sherman, director of the city's Department of Public Works, said the next batch of RebuildIndy projects should be announced in November.

Turae Dabney, president of the Crooked Creek Community Development Corporation, introduced the mayor and said after the event that the Michigan Road improvements are a boon to an area that most Indianapolis residents simply pass through on their way to work or the suburbs.

"This helps give us identity as a neighborhood," Dabney said. "We walk here. We shop here. We're more than just Michigan Road."
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100909/LOCAL1802/9090444/1195/LOCAL18/Mayor-announces-55M-in-road-sidewalk-fixes