INDIANAPOLIS — Neighbors and community leaders on Indy’s Old North Side are calling for additional safety measures for what they say has long been a dangerous intersection.
“We would like support from the city and the neighborhood to help improve our streets, not just for the safety of our students but for the safety of our entire neighborhood,” Carroll Bilbrey, Vice President and COO of Herron Morton Classical Schools told WRTV.
The area near the intersection of 16th and Delaware streets is littered with car parts left behind after crashes and collisions outside of a building on the 1600 block of Delaware Street. Many people who live in the area say people miss the intersection and run off the road.
“We have hired multiple security guards for our neighborhood and more specifically for the crossing at our streets here,” Bilbrey said.
People who live in the area tell WRTV that when getting to 16th street on Delaware, the intersection almost looks like a “T” before a jog to the east.
“In the 1920’s traffic started increasing, the big thing was they were going to be building a bridge across Fall Creek for Delaware and there was anticipated to be more traffic going up Delaware so they wanted to get rid of that “T” so that’s what happened with the slight jog to the right,” Ed Fujawa, local historian and attorney told WRTV.
WRTV asked Fujawa, in his opinion, what makes the design of the intersection so dangerous?
“I think because Delaware is a one-way street and its basically just a racetrack driving up to that intersection and people gain a lot of speed and people aren’t expecting that there is this slight jog to the east,” Fujawa added.
The city says that improvements to the area are set to come. Delaware Street from I-65N to Fall Creek Parkway South Drive is expected to be converted from a one-way to two-way street.
It's one of 8 total streets.
- Capitol Avenue from 21st to 38th Streets
- Illinois Street from 21st to 38th Streets
- Pennsylvania Street from I-65N to Fall Creek Parkway S Drive
- Alabama Street from Washington Street to Michigan Street
- New Jersey Street from Washington Street to Michigan Street
- East Street from Washington Street to 10th Street
- College Avenue from Virginia Avenue to Market Street
