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The Indianapolis City-County Council might ban turns at red lights through the city’s core in response to a rise in accidents involving pedestrians and mounting community pressure.
At a press conference Monday morning, City-County Council President Vop Osili said that he and other councilors who represent areas of downtown have “watched with alarm the steady increase of pedestrian-related motor vehicle accidents.”
In a five-year study conducted by Department of Public Works engineers, 56.7% of vehicle-pedestrian collisions in the downtown area were at stoplights where drivers failed to yield. Outside of downtown, that percentage is just 25%, Osili said.
The proposed area is bordered by Oscar Robertson Boulevard and 11th Street on the north, Interstate 70 on the south, Interstate 65 on the east, and White River Parkway Drive on the west. If passed by the council, the Department of Public Works would begin installing more than 200 no-turn-on-red signs.
Titled Proposal 111, the measure is expected to be introduced Monday evening by Osili and Councilors Kristin Jones and Zach Adamson. It will be considered at the April 13 meeting of the Public Works Committee. Final adoption would occur at the May 8 full City-County Council meeting.
Three other proposals for similar restrictions at a few specific intersections in or near downtown also will be introduced Monday.
The topic of street safety for both drivers and non-drivers in the city has increasingly been in the spotlight, especially since the September 2021 crash that killed 7-year-old Hannah Crutchfield at the intersection of East Washington Street and North Ritter Avenue. A playground in her honor opened at George W. Julian School 57 in Irvington at the end of February.
On Monday morning, a pedestrian was struck and killed in Jones’ district at the corner of South Meridian and Yoke streets.
Drivers struck 453 pedestrians and cyclists in 2022, Jones said, citing the civic group Indianapolis Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Crisis.
Eric Holt, the creator of the Indy Ped Crisis website, recently created an election guide to put pressure on elected officials facing municipal primaries in May.
It isn’t the first time the measure has been considered by the city’s legislative branch. A 2016 pedestrian plan adopted by the city included a recommendation to ban turns at red lights, which the council considered in 2018. The proposal died in the Public Works Committee, with opposition from now-mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve, then a Republican City-County Councilor. Shreve proposed an amendment removing “no turn on red” from the 2018 measure, which passed with a 4-3 vote.
Kim Irwin, executive director of the not-for-profit Health By Design, was part of the 2018 push. She said the change is overdue.
“While it’s impossible to know how much personal and collective damage and loss could have been prevented had we all acted sooner, we are so grateful that the council intends to take this action now,” Irwin said.
Enforcement of the ordinance, if passed, would be implemented slowly. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Chris Bailey said Monday that it’s likely the department will give drivers a warning for violations for at least 90 days after the signs are hung. Bailey said that IMPD would also launch an education campaign to make drivers aware of the shift.
The department also faces a staffing shortage of at least 200 officers. Bailey said he doesn’t anticipate that shortage hampering efforts to enforce the potential measure, since the department receives state and federal funding for traffic enforcement.
Other city efforts are underway to improve street safety, including the narrowing of West Michigan Street and the Department of Public Works’ hiring of a dedicated, full-time traffic engineer. The department extended an offer to a candidate last week, said DPW director Brandon Herget on Monday.
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Do the statistics cited reflect whether a pedestrian crossed the street under a “white” walking sign, or a “red hand” do not cross sign?
It does not matter. Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right-of-way. Your perspective blames the victims of traffic violence and fails to consider the extreme vulnerability of pedestrians/bicyclists on city streets.
RILEY Z – So Jay Walking is OK? Got it…
V K that’s correct. Crossing a street is always OK. Cars should be expected to drive safely for the road – which in a city means SLOW and carefully enough to not hit someone who runs into a street.
New York St and Yoke St both run east/west, so not sure how they would intersect as mentioned
Hi, thanks for pointing this out! The article has been edited to reflect the correct intersection, at South Meridian and Yoke streets.
Before undertaking yet another municipal initiative to further snarl vehicular traffic, how about putting in proper crosswalk markings at all intersections? Throughout downtown, the normal white rectangles that indicate a pedestrian crossing the world over have been replaced by one silly decorative pattern after another. The Cultural Trail is the main culprit – what a great idea: curlicues and geometric patterns and the names of rich people on the pavement.
The city now goes so far as to skip paving these crossings when they re-pave a street, because the silly pattern requires imprinting into fresh asphalt. Do we have data on silly crosswalk decorations leading to greater pedestrian danger?
Yet again- what is good for walkability REDUCES traffic. More people walking=less cars. If we create a city that actually protects pedestrians, more folks will do so- and there will be less traffic.
Also- please do research before spouting off- painted and decorated crosswalks statistically SAVE LIVES by slowing traffic and increasing visibility of pedestrian crossing areas. Literally just google it.
“Crosswalk art is actually contrary to the goal of increased safety and most likely could be a contributing factor to a false sense of security for both motorists and pedestrians.” – Federal Highway Administration
The accident was at South Meridian and Yoke on the south side near Troy and Meridian. Not considered downtown but sad.
1. There are already a number of intersections in the defined area where RT on red is banned. Part of the problem is that sometimes (maybe even most times) the sign is not right up below or above the signal where the driver is looking.
2. Pretty sure the police currently don’t or can’t enforce the bans in #1…so it’s a good idea to add more? They would almost have to camp an officer at the corner full time to eliminate the problem.
Don’t stop there! So many of our traffic “norms” are wildly dangerous for the people who have to cross roads, or just exist near them. You can never have enough bollards, to little parking, or too many dedicated pedestrian paths and squares!
It’s interesting to learn from this article that the city “receives state and federal funding for traffic enforcement.” How and where and where are those funds spent? How many traffic tickets are issued as a result?
Every day I see speeding, running red lights, passing on two-lane streets, and other infractions that make our streets less safe. I rarely if ever see law enforcement pulling over the violators (and assume that the issuance of tickets is even more rare).
There are already numerous intersections in the city where right-on-red turns are not permitted, yet I’ve seen drivers ignore the signage and violate the law. While I am in favor of prohibiting right-on-red turns in the name of pedestrian safety, excuse me for not believing the assertion that there will be enforcement.
The same idiots that hit people are the same idiots that are going to ignore the NT on red.
sorry but too many idiots is the problem. how you going to fix that?
Make it harder to get a license and bump up mass transit so people without cars can get around.
That said, we all think we are great drivers and everyone else is the problem.
D.D. You’re right. Guess this helps with the push for fully autonomous vehicles. Maybe solving the problem in the distant future; at least they will obey traffic laws. Hopefully.
Fully autonomous vehicles aren’t the solution, not in the next 50 years.
Unless running on Elon Musk programming.
^^^This was a response to Eric’s “at least they will obey traffic laws.” Not to Joe B.
The success of Phony Shark’s cars with their “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” speaks to how hard the problem is.
I mean, set aside that Musk should be sued for false advertising and trying to disclaimer his way past that. Yes, talented coders can get a long way down their road of solving the self-driving problem. It’s the last mile, as it goes, that is very difficult.
Shreve’s opposition to this measure is noted.
Right-on-red is so dangerous for pedestrians because the driver is often looking to the left at car traffic and not right in front of them (or slightly to the right of them) to the person who is legally walking across the street.
And you were all set to vote for Shereve, but this sent you in a different direction, right? LOL. Please
Shreve has sent me three mailings. I still can’t discern a platform. He already admitted he’s given up improving Indianapolis’ roads. Why would anyone vote him at this point?
Wow, this really rang a bell for IBJ’s target market. Cars Bad! I learned a new term “Traffic Violence” which challenges “Food Deserts” for most moronic made up liberal term. Riley and Charles, I hate to tell you but in addition to being asinine, your opinions are wrong. There is clear legal doctrine for pedestrians to bear responsibility to act in a legal and predictable manner. If I “ran into the street” your words, not mine, while you were tooling down 16th street and you hit me, I’m sure you would be screaming that at the top of your lungs.
To answer your snark: I’m willing to listen to different politicians who are running for Mayor. I think Indy could use some fresh ideas and a new direction. For me, that new direction does not include continuing to encourage right turns on red downtown.
And to this “cars bad” point: Cars have been encouraged as much as possible in this city since WWII. Any measures to tame them have been met with derision. A general truism is that unlimited car culture and cities don’t really mix very well. They can be a useful tool if well-managed, but we have basically made them mandatory instead of optional.
Assistant Chief Chris Bailey said the department will give drivers a warning for violations for 90 days and launch an education campaign to make drivers aware ….
Same old B.S. In the end, it will just be another ordinance that won’t be enforced – like scooter laws, illegal parking/no parking, no left turn intersections, speeding, running red lights, trucks prohibited on certain streets, and noise ordinances. IMPD ignores these violations all of the time. It’s disrespectful to the citizens that abide by the laws.
This is a good idea. I lived Downtown for six years and was nearly hit by drivers turning right on red multiple times. And no, not while I was jaywalking. The only way this will work is with red light cameras though. IMPD doesn’t care about enforcing traffic laws 90% of the time.
I think something more important that I’ve never heard talked about is requiring mirrors at parking garage exits so vehicles exiting can see pedestrians. Most have them, but a lot either don’t, or they aren’t properly placed to be useful. I actually was hit (luckily not badly) by a car pulling out of a garage on Delaware Street before. I had many near misses, and learned to just expect drivers to not be paying attention when they’re exiting a garage. It’s ridiculous and dangerous.