Community input, advocacy needed for I-65 project
![A view of Indianapolis from the southeast with the I-65 South Split in the foreground.](/sites/default/files/styles/xlarge/public/img/articles/2024-07/south-split.jpg?itok=OAHRXDhy)
The public's ability to engage with—and object to—several key aspects of the I-65 Safety & Efficiency Project is coming down to its final weeks and these most important days.
This summer marks the beginning of Rethink Coalition's Reconnecting Communities Study—a re-imagined South Split, Recessed and Capped and Covered. This all important work will last for two years and dovetail with ProPEL Indy which has been engaging communities inside I-465 concerning the future prospects of a rebuilt Inner Loop around the city. Both of these programs hold great promise for a revitalized Indianapolis and Central Indiana for the next fifty years.
Key concepts to know now:
- In the meantime, the I-65 S&E project has been relentless in their intent to add an outside 5th Lane to northbound I-65 above Raymond Street, widening and rebuilding the Morris Street Overpass. If this happens it will lock-in the present infrastructure and disconnection of neighborhoods for another twenty (20) years!
- INDOT/Parsons have made overtures toward improving the connectivity and sidewalks to the nine (9) Underpasses that move through the corridor and divide our neighborhoods east from west. But they have, in no way, approached the detailed requests in the I-65 SKA S&E Report submitted on our behalf to INDOT/Parsons.
What can you do now
Attend public meetings
Two final committee meetings with INDOT/Parsons are scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, July 18. The official Public Hearing will be the evening of Wednesday, July 24.
- Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting
Thursday July 18, 2024
1–2:30 pm
Southeast Community Services
901 Shelby St.
Indianapolis, IN 46203
- Environmental Justice Committtee (EJC) meeting
Thursday July 18, 2024
1–2:30 pm
Southeast Community Services
901 Shelby St.
Indianapolis, IN 46203
- I-65 Safety & Efficiency Public Hearing
July 24, 2024
5:30–7 pm (presentation at 6 pm)
Frederick Douglass SUPER School 19
2020 Dawson St, Indianapolis, IN 46203
See this flyer for more information