Indy DPW projects put on hold following weekend protests

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Department of Public Works was forced to put some projects on hold and is working to determine a cost of destruction to the city after last weekend’s protests.

The destruction began Friday night and was consistent throughout the weekend.

The department says they had 10 hours of overtime pothole filling time scheduled for Saturday, but the 39 employees scheduled to complete that project were moved downtown.

On Sunday, just less than 50 people were sent downtown and some received overtime because they weren’t scheduled to work. Monday, 15 people were rerouted.

Crews have looked at graffiti abatement, especially on public sidewalks and in the public right of way owned by the city of Indianapolis as well as damage to signal infrastructure and the replacement of a lot of different traffic signs.

Chief communication officer Ben Easley says the department is getting ahead of the work.

“Now, it seems like it’s just more lingering graffiti, for example, and things that we will continue to take care of on a one-off basis,” Easley said. “But for example, the street sweeping, we got a large portion of that done and picked up a lot of street debris that was in the right of way.”

The department says they’re appreciative of people wanting to help clean up.

But they’re asking people to channel those efforts to local nonprofit “keep Indianapolis beautiful” and in their own communities.

The department wants to make sure the look and the way they are addressing graffiti and other types of replacements to things are consistent and able to track it going forward.

Some crews have now gone back to scheduled projects, but are prepared to adjust.