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Congratulations to me. I’ve been officially labeled a coconstituents. Not a solution guy by a constituent.
why would you install a artificial turf to obstruct natural traffic when there is a beautiful military park just two streets north. A park that can provide so much more influence to children. Oh wait! Also alcohal? Somebody please educate this complainer who is providing what he thinks is a more equitable solution.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m the guy who I vested I. His oases on e georgia street. I’m the guy the city bought land next door to build a low barrier shelter without asking.
Zoning g approved it even though it states they won’t if it impacts my quiet enjoyment. So much for zoning.
I apologize for the miss-auto corrects.
Been drinking already this morning, John?
“Natural Traffic” is hilarious
What a pitiful joke, and insult to local business that offer the same basic amenities.!
That corner of the circle has struggled since they demolished the English Opera House. It’s going to get a lot more use from a park as opposed to an unleasable building.
@Kevin, please name the businesses this impacts; I work downtown and can’t think of a single one this will hurt or “insult”. The joke’s on you, bud.
Love it. Make the circle permanently pedestrian-only!
Absolutely not, ever. It’s a traffic circle and always has been, going back 2 centuries. It’s THE central feature of Ralston’s Mile Square grid.
And while there are substantial closures on both Illinois (2+ years for the Signia project) and Penn (1-2 years for the Kimpton project), Meridian and the Circle are both needed as an alternate route through the downtown core during conventions and events.
I agree with Chris B.
I’v seen a lot of town squares and plazas that only have one lane of traffic on one side with traffic restricted to deliveries and public transit. All of these buildings have alleys in the back.
I will say that the circle should have meters if it’s going to stay open to traffic. I’ve never seen a ticket on a car for staying more than two hours. It’s a little ridiculous that so many businesses have permanent no parking zones, AES, Circle Theater, and the Columbia Club all carve out big chunks of space. I think all of these buildings have alley access for deliveries.
I think there’s a happy middle ground here, the Circle definitely doesn’t need three lane-widths worth of space for motor vehicles, and the Circle isn’t considered a thoroughfare by any stretch of the imagination. Some legs probably should be closed to motor vehicle traffic and/or the width of space for motor vehicles should be significantly reduced (one lane of travel in one direction, one for deliveries/pick up/drop off). The remaining space could be programmable, easily expand into large sidewalk cafes, etc.
I agree. If you need to use Monument Circle to navigate downtown, you shouldn’t be driving.
You clearly do not drive through downtown daily.
Chris, the Circle is frequently closed to traffic during major conventions and events. It’s never used as a designated alternate route because it’s not considered a thoroughfare. Yes, it was designed two centuries ago…before cars. It was never meant to be a thoroughfare for motorists. It was always mean to be a central plaza for the city for low-speed means of movement and for lingering.
I have to agree with Corey here, nobody who drives Downtown regularly uses Monument Circle as a primary thoroughfare. It’s always either to serve as a shortcut or for people to gawk at the Christmas Lights from their cars, which defeats the purpose anyway.
Agreed! It would draw more people and investment downtown if it were a permanent park.
Downtown has many parks and plazas already, three within 5 minutes walk of the Circle:
-University Park/War Memorial/American Legion Mall
-Canal
-Lugar Plaza (south side of the CCB)
-City Market Plaza (NE corner of Market & Delaware)
-Plaza (west side of the State Capitol)
-Hudnut Commons (south of the Simon office building on Capitol)
-Bicentennial Unity Plaza (north of Gainbridge)
A lot of those parks are honestly fairly isolated. Monument Circle is the center of the city and is more convenient to more people than almost all of those places.
The City Market plazas are closed in conjunction with the City Market for improvements.
Oh…people are going to “pay” to park to go to this? Think again.
I think the activation on the Circle is a great idea.
Let’s give Carmel a run for its money on a German style Christmas market this winter…. First couple of years in Carmel were cool, now its a nightmare since it is overcrowded 24-7.
The Atheneum did that last year.
Next up: “Activating” all the interstate on-ramps in the city by blocking them with ping-pong tables and porta-potties. Meanwhile, continue to starve the parks of resources. Genius!
Love it Richard!
Go hang out with Aaron Freeman and hit some pedestrians while you’re at it.
The pedestrian who died on Massachusetts Avenue the other day, you can’t blame that on Aaron Freeman. But you can blame it on the city and the Cultural Trail – you know, the geniuses who push pedestrian spaces out into traffic lanes and then give themselves awards for it.
No, I blame the reckless drunk driver. Stop pawning off the faults of motorists onto other people. The guy got wasted and drove when he shouldn’t have. It’s 100% the motorists fault.
Got it. So design is much less consequential than driver responsibility. We should hold drivers accountable. With that established, we now can remove all the No Right on Red signs throughout downtown – right?
Spot on.
An excellent activation! This is especially meaningful for downtown employees breaking during the day as well as young families. Free and approachable programming can be really tough to find.
Agreed. Just do it at University Park, which would have the additional benefit of “good activity” driving off “bad activity” (drug use, loitering, etc.).
Or, here me out, we do it everywhere since the Circle isn’t a thoroughfare and nobody…and I mean NOBODY…”needs” to drive their vehicle on it. They just don’t. Because it is legally not a thoroughfare and does not provide direct drive access to any buildings.
Since you’re so adamant about pushing pedestrian activity to the side (you know, pedestrians, things that cities have), maybe you can also just go drive on a dedicated track? You’ll still go around and around in circles without ruining everyone else’s good time.
You and others commenting clearly do not commute by car through downtown to and from the south side of town daily. Even at 15mph going halfway around the Circle on Meridian is preferable to the messes on Capitol and Penn caused by construction and garages disgorging drivers who want to cross all the lanes of traffic in half a block.
A calm low-traffic drive down Meridian, even when it means 25 mph (15 on the Circle) and stopping for the many pedestrians and scooters out in good weather, is a vastly preferable commute over the one-way car sewers with constant lane shifts and pop-up (and semi-permanent) construction.
See, car drivers are people and taxpayers too.
I also believe that the Circle should be closed to cars year-round. There is proof of concept here throughout Europe and also in other American cities. This type of placemaking benefits communities and mitigates pedestrian/cyclist safety issues.
University Park and the American Legion Mall are both gorgeous greenspaces, and I’m eager to see the Mall activated later next month for the I Made Rock and Roll festival. It’s an exciting season downtown!
I strongly oppose this idea. Getting around downtown is hard enough and Monument Circle should be opened up for everyone to drive around it. To add alcohol is going to make things worse and inappropriate in a family environment.
Great to see this returning, with even more amenities. As someone who works nearby, it was a nice spot to get out of the office. Even if I was going somewhere else, it was always cool to see other people enjoying themselves while walking through.