INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana was denied millions of federal dollars to make their roads safer.
It comes at a time when Indianapolis saw record breaking numbers of people killed while walking or riding along the streets.
The Biden administration's Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program could have helped improve the safety of Indiana roads.
The grants were broken up into two types: implementation and action.
Implementation would help states physically fix roads. Action would help them create plans to fix them.
Indiana is one of 22 states that didn't get implementation grant money. In total, $800 million was given to more than 500 projects.
Several cities across the state got action grant money, including Noblesville and Shelbyville, but Indianapolis did not.
Roads in Indianapolis have been a conversation starter for many Hoosiers who live in Central Indiana.
IMPD records show 2022 was the deadliest year for people hit while walking or riding.
2022 saw 298 people hit, 40 were killed. That topped 2020's record of 39 deaths. So far in 2023, 53 pedestrians have been struck and seven have died, according to IMPD.
Those numbers only represent events where a crash report was completed.
Among those killed was Jonathan Fahey, 34.
Fahey was walking north in the 7700 block of N. Shadeland Avenue on July 23 when he was hit by a car. The person responsible drove off.
His mom, Dawn Cordero, said his death could have been prevented.
"Who knows if the outcome would have changed, but you certainly could say there is a good possibility the outcome could have changed that dreaded morning my son was walking south on Shadeland Avenue," she said. "It could have made a difference. My son could possibly still be here if there was sidewalks to walk in verses of him having to walk in the street."
Last year, Indianapolis saw the most fatal hit and runs on record in more than a decade. U.S. traffic deaths are also at record numbers.
Cordero isn't the only Indianapolis resident concerned by the lack of sidewalks.
Zachery Thomas said he is forced to walk in the parking lot of businesses because there are no sidewalks near where he lives.
"We walk thorough parking lots and cars be driving through. What are we suppose to do, we got to step out of the way, right? In all actuality, we should have a path we can go through," Thomas said.
Bill Gibbs lives in the area and can't get around easily.
He says he has trouble going to the businesses along Shadeland when walking.
"Wheelchairs, they have to ride in the street — it's just horrifying," Gibbs said. "It scares me to walk."
DPW and IndyGo will have to apply for other funding to try and make Indy's roads safe.
Indy DPW has historically and will continue to apply for federal and state grant funding opportunities such as the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program that can help accelerate our capital program. In addition to continuing to pursue new funding opportunities, our staff, along with IndyGo who was a co-applicant, are scheduled to debrief with the Federal Transportation Administration for feedback on our application.
The IndyGo/City of Indianapolis grant application known as “Safe Routes to Transit” consists of eight improvement corridors in Indianapolis (Marion County) that were selected from the IMPO’s Safety Action Plan as priority areas for upgraded and enhanced infrastructure. These corridors also overlap with the Indianapolis Region’s High Injury Network (HIN) making them areas of priority for improvements to both organizations. The total project request was $25 million with a federal funding request of $20 million and combined local match of $5 million.
While we did not receive this specific grant funding for the year, 2023 will see a historic amount of funding toward our capital infrastructure. We continue to develop projects with safety in mind, especially for vulnerable users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Some examples include the Safe Routes To Transit program, which upgraded hundreds of improvements in proximity to the IndyGo Red Line; an enhanced Broad Ripple Avenue with wider sidewalks, paths, and improved crosswalks currently in construction; and traffic calming solutions in high-pedestrian areas like Downtown, with projects like the two-way conversion of Fort Wayne Ave and a new bus-only lane on Delaware St. In addition to these projects, the City of Indianapolis has funded a new Traffic Safety Engineer position in the 2023 budget, and has created a Fatal Crash Review Team to review fatal traffic incidents and make recommendations based on their findings.
IndyGo said they will be meeting with the FTA to review their application and look for ways to strengthen it for the next time around.
IndyGo’s project, “Safe Routes to Transit,” seeks to improve the infrastructure that leads to and from our bus routes. Streets without pathways, stops that are not ADA compliant, and neighborhoods that are not connected result in a more dangerous first and last mile connection for our riders. In a time where deadly vehicle and pedestrian accidents in Indianapolis have increased exponentially, it’s critical that we continue to work toward these projects not only for the safety of our riders and success of our transit agency, but for the progression of the entire city.
There is only so much money to go around with these grants. Decisions to fund or not fund can be based on a wide variety of factors. In this instance, very few grants were approved. Of approximately 200 applicants requesting more than $2.5 billion from this specific grant program, only 37 applications were awarded funding of a total of only about $585 million.
While we did not receive this grant this time around, we will be meeting with the FTA to review our application and look for ways to strengthen it for the next round where we will apply again. However, it is very important to not lose sight of the significant federal grant funding IndyGo has received in the last few years. This includes nearly $200 million to support capital improvement programs, like those that are helping to fund our bus rapid transit projects and other infrastructure projects to create safe routes for pedestrians and our riders throughout the city. This is an effort we are committed to and we will continue to move forward in carrying out these plans.
