Indianapolis group wants sections of I-65, I-70 underground

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The construction of Indianapolis' 'œInner Loop'ť of Interstates 65 and 70 displaced 17,000 residents and demolished 8,000 buildings, The Indianapolis Star reported when the final leg was completed in October 1975. It tore apart once-vibrant historically Black neighborhoods like Babe Denny.

With this history in mind, a coalition of business and community leaders are gathering public support for a different design for the interstates - before the Indiana Department of Transportation has even conceived of a plan for rebuilding or repairs.

Rethink Coalition Inc, in partnership with the Indy Chamber, put together a $2.8 billion proposal to rebuild the highways partially underground, which the researchers say would physically connect communities, and save far more room for economic development and green space.

Rethink, formerly Rethink 65/70, has made the pitch before. In late 2018, after INDOT announced its plan to rebuild just the northeast corner of the loop, dubbed the North Split, the coalition commissioned engineering firm Arup to come up with a proposal for what it then called 'œdepressed'ť highways. Then as now, INDOT did not have plans for capital projects beyond the $320 million North Split reconstruction.

This time, they teamed up with the Chamber to secure grant funding from the Lilly Endowment and commission a more expansive study from Arup, complete with price tags. Rethink also became a registered nonprofit earlier this year.

'œWe started out more of a protest group,'ť said CEO Brenda Freije. 'œWe're really now trying to be collaborative leaders and facilitators of conversation.'ť

The same concept by a new name, the idea behind 'œrecessed'ť highways is to demolish the elevated highways and rebuild them partially underground, consolidating ramps and replacing distributor roads with multi-modal boulevards, for example, to include biking and walking lanes. City streets or even parks can extend over the interstates, thereby connecting neighborhoods by foot.

The study, called the Inner Loop Visionary Study, identifies six areas of the loop for potential work. In total, Arup estimates the recessed highways' smaller footprint could open up 68 acres of land for parks, commercial development or pedestrian travel.

The proposal takes inspiration from similar projects in Denver, Cincinnati and Dallas.

Arup estimates such a rebuild would cost about $2.8 billion, compared to $2.3 billion for rebuilding the interstates as is. But through the potential redevelopment of opened up space, the study estimates the redesign could generate tens of millions in new annual property taxes and more than $2 billion in real estate investment.

The north and south legs and southern portion of the east leg have had rehabilitation work done in the last decade to extend their life, INDOT regional spokesperson Mallory Duncan said. INDOT will do maintenance work as needed but does not have plans for any section of the loop besides the North Split, she said.

That's why the coalition and chamber are talking about this now, Freije said, rather than reacting to an already baked plan, which is what happened in 2018.

'œThe intent of this is to be very much in the front,'ť she said.

In 2018, INDOT did adjust its plans in response to pushback. Rather than adding lanes, widening shoulders and building retaining walls up to 33 feet, INDOT chose a plan that condensed the interchange's current footprint. And while it was too late in the process to make the fundamental changes Rethink wanted, INDOT also agreed to design the interchange in a way that does not prevent future design changes to other parts of the highway.

The organizations have identified 18 stakeholder groups among the public but are still figuring out how they will solicit feedback. They envision a rebuild like this to take about 15 years, taking a segmented approach, said Kevin Osburn, an urban designer with Rundell Ernstberger and a member of the coalition.

The groups acknowledge that this kind of work may not be taken up for another decade or longer.

'œWe know at some point you're gonna have to address these,'ť said Mark Fisher, chief policy officer at Indy Chamber. 'œWhen you do, let's not just do the same old thing. Let's think about how to enhance quality of life, rectify some of the racial injustices of the past.'ť

Duncan called the Inner Loop Visionary Study 'œthoughtful'ť and 'œforward-looking,'ť noting it's still very preliminary.

'œAs with any effort to redesign and reconstruct major infrastructure, much additional planning, public involvement, impact review, and engineering development would need to be done before INDOT could react to factors such as design, cost and feasibility,'ť she said.

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Source: The Indianapolis Star