The UrbanIndy.com relaunch!
52nd & The Monon Trail, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
If you are a local and follow the various Indy urban blogs, then you may know by now that www.urbanindy.com will be relaunching on August 2nd. I will be one of the collaborating partners of the new site. We wanted to pool all of our common resources into one site that we felt could make a bigger impact on the community as a whole. The editors of the new site will be:
Chris Corr, from DIG-B
Graeme Sharpe, from A Place of Sense
Jason Larrison, from Circle and Squares
Kevin Kastner, from the previous Urban Indy
Kirsten Eamon-Shine, from Middle West Meals
and Myself
I will still be making regular posts on my blog here so if you are a regular visitor, expect to see regular updates from me. I will still continue to keep readers up on what is going on locally that may not quite fit the theme of UrbanIndy, as well as my growing passion for transit improvements in Indianapolis. I may even *gasp* get back to what I started this blog primarily for, photography! We will just have to see.
Thanks to all of you for continuing to support urban improvements in Indianapolis!
52nd Street Construction adding Bike Lanes
Years ago, a construction project brought some of the first bike lanes to Indianapolis on 52nd street in midtown Indianapolis. The reconstruction stretched from Keystone Ave on its eastern-most point and ended at the Monon Trail on the west end. With this reconstruction came the addition of a bike lane in both the eastbound and westbound shoulder, abutting the sidewalk. The project failed to address points west of the Monon, and what resulted was a divide in the landscape with the west side appearing as a bombed out and depleted looking stretch of street from the Monon to College Ave.
52nd & The Monon looking west
This summer, budgets finally opened up enough to continue what was started east of the Monon on 52nd street. The reconstruction of 52nd street from the Monon to College Ave and the continuation of the bike lanes all the way to College Ave. The realization of this accomplishment may not have came to fruition however. In early July 2010, road demolition crews made their way to 52nd street and started to eat up the pavement. Details on-site indicated the obvious road reconstruction coming, but neglected to address bike lanes; something that has been added to the Indianapolis Bike Plan for the next 2-5 years.
A viral campaign was mounted by Indy Hostel shortly thereafter that started out as a simple inquiry to anyone who would listen including local neighborhood associations. It quickly grew to an online petition and reached the ears of the IndyCog who, through their connections to the Indianapolis DPW’s Andy Lutz, insured that the bike lane extensions to College Avenue will in fact be laid.
52nd Street & Ralston Ave looking west
What this displayed was a community’s desire for the right thing to happen instead of mindless road paving as has been the history of Indianapolis. The petition was started mostly regarding the absence of bike lanes, but it also addresses the awful looking sidewalks and the utility poles that randomly jut out of the sidewalk. In the long term, it would be nice to see the utilities relocated. To be sure, this an amazingly expensive task and while the outcome is a nice looking street with safer sidewalks, it is not likely to happen in cash-strapped Indy anytime soon.
We will continue to keep you posted as the final layers of pavement are laid, and striping begins later this summer.