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City of Indianapolis invests $126 million in improvement projects

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The City of Indianapolis Department of Public Works is investing nearly $126 million in infrastructure improvements through Mayor Greg Ballard’s ongoing RebuildIndy infrastructure improvement program in 2015.

Construction officially kicked off Tuesday morning with a groundbreaking ceremony for Phase I of the Eagle Creek Greenway Extension project. The trail extension will connect Eagle Creek Park and the westside with Downtown Indianapolis through more than 16 miles of new multi-use trail.

Neighbor Linda Mills said,  “All of our residents are very excited about this. We’re going to have access to Eagle Creek by bike, by walking, by running, or whatever we need.”

Highlights of this year’s RebuildIndy construction season include the addition of sidewalks along Hoover Road from 64th to 79th streets and along Georgetown Road from 71st to 86th streets, trail extension to the Eagle Creek Greenway, Pennsy Trail, and Grassy Creek Park Trail, and repairs to the Keystone Avenue bridge over 86th Street.

Andy Lutz, director of the Department of Public Works, said, “I think we’re going to see a healthier community, a more active community, the ability for people to get to work and places of leisure more easier, and it’s just going to provide more options for people in neighborhoods and communities to be able to get from place to place.”

Since 2009, the Department of Public Works RebuildIndy program has introduced 9,764 ADA-compliant access ramps, 91 miles of bike lanes, 2 roundabout, and 152,020 linear feet of path or trail. The program is also responsible for 119,511 linear feet of alley repairs, the maintenance of 89 bridges, 1,821 lane miles of road resurfacing, the planting of 14,441 trees and energy-saving retrofits to 691 traffic signals.

The total RebuildIndy investment to date is approximately $722 million.

Click here for more information on the RebuildIndy program.