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Pedestrian bridges will be built at two busy trail crossings in Indianapolis using federal funding awards announced Wednesday.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization on Wednesday announced that 26 key transportation projects across central Indiana would receive $80.1 million in federal funding. Those projects include building separate pedestrian bridges for the Monon Trail at 86th Street and the Nickle Plate Trail at 82nd Street.
The funding coincides with a recent push by the City-County Council called “Vision Zero,” which aims to reach zero road fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. The intersection at 86th and the Monon Trail was the site of a deadly crash that killed longtime Bicycle Garage Indy employee Frank Radaker in 2021.
A bridge connecting the Monon Trail over 86th Street is slated to be paid for with $7 million from the federal government. A similar bridge is planned for the Nickel Plate Trail’s crossing over 82nd Street. That project is receiving $5.9 million.
Local governments are required to match the funds. The federal allotments don’t represent the total cost of the projects.
The planning organization projects are often long-range. The announcement notes that construction for the Monon Trail crossing over 86th Street won’t begin until 2030.
Indianapolis city leaders and elected officials have spotlighted the danger of the two intersections for years.
City officials said last June that they began seeking federal funding to bridge the Nickle Plate Trail over both Keystone Avenue and 82nd Street in fall 2023 when trail construction began.
And in 2024, two Indianapolis City-County Council members representing the north side, Nick Roberts and Brienne Delaney, asked constituents to submit comments on both trail crossings to help build a more compelling federal funding application.
Nineteen local public agencies across central Indiana submitted 53 project application totaling $192 million in requested funding from IMPO.
Along with the pedestrian bridge funding, Indianapolis is slated to receive money for other transportation projects including a roundabout at 71st and Dean Road, rehabilitation of the Raymond Street bridge over Bean Creek, and technology to improve traffic signals.
The funding will also help pay for an expansion of the Eagle Creek Greenway and a larger footprint for the Pacers Bikeshare program.
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Good news! Thanks MPO for allowing the Monon and Nickel funding for the bridges!
The Monon bridge only took 40 years and a few deaths to finally get to a design and construction stage.!
They should honor Frank Radaker or name the 86nd street bridge after him once completed. Everyone loved him.