The future for Indy cyclists looks promising

Adding bike lanes to Michigan and New York Streets seemed like a very long ordeal. A couple years of planning followed by an extended construction process. As I've mentioned, the results were worth the hassle. But I dreaded the thought that every added bike lane would go through the same long process.

Then one day I noticed bike lanes on a small stretch of Ritter Avenue between Pleasant Run Parkway and 10th Street. It was included as part of a repaving project. I was surprised to see it, especially since I hadn't heard anything about it.

And this week, while traveling to Wanamaker to see some friends, I noticed that a paving project on Southeastern Avenue between Five Points and Franklin Road was completed. And it included bike lanes.

We are being invaded by bike lanes! Where will they be popping up next?

And then I was directed to the website for Sustain Indy and the plans for the future of bike lanes in Indianapolis. The hope is that in just over 10 years, the bike lane system in Indianapolis will look like this:

The lines in red are roads with bike lanes. Green are greenways and blue is the cultural trail.

That seems pretty impressive, especially for an auto-loving city like Indy. It won't happen overnight, obviously, but the website outlines several phases. Current bike lanes are listed as:

New York & Michigan Street bike lanes - 11.0 miles - Arlington Avenue to White River Parkway West Drive (2009)
52nd Street - 1.0 mile - Monon Greenway to Keystone Avenue (2008)
Westlane Road - 1.41 miles - Michigan Road to Ditch Road (2008)
Ritter Avenue - 0.43 miles - East Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive to 10th Street (2009)

I've not been on 52nd and Westlane, but I'm assuming they wouldn't lie to me, right?

In next two years, they have other lanes planned, with most funded using federal funds (Allisonville) or as part of resurfacing projects. The latter two are not yet funded but they believe it will be:

Allisonville Road - 5.5 miles - Binford Boulevard to 82nd Street (late 2009/early 2010)
Illinois Street - 1.17 miles - New York Street to 16th Street (2009)
Illinois Street/Capitol Avenue - 4.63/5.63 miles - 16th Street & New York Street to Canal Towpath (2010?)
East Street - 0.72 miles - Sanders Street to Fletcher Avenue (2009)
Southeastern Avenue - 0.57 miles - South Sheridan Avenue to Hunter Road (late 2009/early 2010)
Southeastern Avenue - 1.81 miles - Franklin Road to Five Points Road (late 2009/early 2010)
Allison Pointe - 0.90 miles - 82nd Street to Dead End (2009)
Lafayette Road - 13.29 miles - County Line to West New York Street (2010?)
Broad Ripple Avenue - 1.03 miles - Monon Trail to Keystone Avenue (2010?)

There are more maps and phase descriptions on their website. It is very exciting to me and it seems like a easy and relatively inexpensive way to improve the quality of life in Indianapolis.

Should have knocked on wood

It just figures that the day after I praise IN BikePort and the bike lockers, they have a hiccup with the system. Even the best functioning systems in the world have hiccups from time to time. I blame myself for this one.

Yesterday, users were unable to call in and retrieve working combinations to the bike lockers. I keep a bike lock with me whenever I travel, just in case, so it wasn't a big deal to me.

Despite the technical mishap yesterday, my satisfaction with the BikePort setup has been extremely high. What is most impressive is how well the BikePort people communicate during these times. I received two phone calls from Connie Szabo Schmucker at IN BikePort apologizing for the troubles and giving updates. It was followed by an email to all BikePort users giving an update.

The good news is that the lockers are functioning again. And this event illustrates that IN BikePort isn't just about facilities, but customer service and advocating a bicycling lifestyle in Indianapolis.

Kudos to Connie, Randy, and everybody at IN BikePort for their hard work.

Life in the bike lane

Indianapolis is not the most bike friendly city around. That is easy to say.

But it is making efforts to improve that. That is easy to see. Or at least it is for me.

The city recently installed bike lanes on Michigan and New York Streets. They span from the IUPUI campus on the west side of downtown to Arlington Avenue in the Irvington neighborhood.

The project was started during the Mayor Peterson administration and executed in the Mayor Ballard administration. It was a relatively simple project to execute. Lanes were remarked. Automotive lanes were slightly narrowed. Parking was changed. And signs were installed. Very little new construction was necessary.

It intersects with the White River Greenway, the Central Canal, the Cultural Trail, and the Pleasant Run Greenway. This simple connection has connected the eastside to downtown and the rest of the Indianapolis Greenway system in one motion.

As an Irvington resident and a downtown commuter, I have made frequent use of the new bike lanes. And speaking as a user, I think it is a major success. I truly got a feel for the number of cyclists that use the lanes recently when I had a flat tire and was stuck at New York and Gale Streets (and for the record, we have several courteous cyclists in town).

There is a lot to like about the bike lanes. In the past, I had to fight with motorists for my right to bike on the street. I used to have people tailgate, cut off, yell at, and throw stuff at me. Now, with the lanes clearly marked and signs in place, the fear I once felt is gone.

Having bike lanes on the street also prevents me from having to ride on the sidewalks, where bike commuters and pedestrians often tangled. Along the seven or so miles from downtown to Irvington, automobiles, bikes, and pedestrians have clearly identified places.

The complaints I do have are relatively minor. It would have been nice if they had repaved, as the ground off lane markings left divots in the road. Some motorists think that the bike lane doubles as a drop off lane, especially around Arsenal Tech High. At the Federal Building between Delaware and Pennsylvania, motorists who park in the underground parking garage often block the lane waiting to get in.

But I'll just continue to be polite to them and explain that they are blocking a bike lane and it would be appreciated if they would refrain in the future¹.

Otherwise, I'm really happy with the bike lanes and look forward to more in the future.

Once I am downtown, I enjoy the underutilized bike lockers that Indiana Bikeport maintains at a parking garage on South Meridian Street, at NIFS in White River State Park and at the Indiana Government Center. The bike lockers use a phone system that costs a low $5.95 a year to use. At this time, there are no per-use charges outside of the annual fee.

So storing my bike in a secure and weather tight location is relatively easy. After that, things start to stink. And by things, I mean me. My workplace does not have a shower room that I can utilize. While deodorant goes a long way, it would be nice to have access to shower facilities.

In Chicago, there is a bike facility in Millenium Park where you can rent bikes, have bikes repaired, store your bike, and utilize the showers. The Chicago Bike Station provides these services for $149 a year. I asked part time Indy resident/part time Chicago resident Aaron Renn (aka the Urbanophile) about the facility and how much it is used. He replied:

"I have not used it. I have a friend who does though. I think it's popular. Many buildings in Chicago now have integrated bike parking/showers since you get LEED credits - more convenient than the park."

So I ponder if Indianapolis would support a similar facility? Perhaps. There are several locations that could house a facility similar to Chicago's Bike Center. White River State Park, the vacant canal site across from the Indiana History Center. Maybe the vacant lot on Washington Street adjacent to the King Cole Building (approximately 10 E. Washington; that's close to many of downtown's biggest buildings).

There are partial services available right now, though. At NIFS, they offer a shower only membership that starts at $30 a month. But that seems steep to me. Personally, I have a membership with the YMCA. If there were Bikeport lockers available at the Y at the Athenaeum, I'd probably use those lockers and shower facilities. I'd have several more blocks to travel after using the Y in order to get to work, but that would be a step in the right direction for me.

Of course, in the perfect world, there would be shower and locker facilities at everybody's place of work. Until then, we'll have to suffer (or I should say my co-workers will have to suffer).

333 Mass Ave

When the 333 Mass Ave project was first proposed. The renderings of the proposed project were not that appealing to me, but often what's on paper and how it translates into reality can be really different. So I was hoping it would look better than I first envisioned.

If memory serves me correctly, the permits for this project were being pushed very quickly by the developer in order to get it in before this part of town was a locally designated historic district. That told me that this design wouldn't make it through IHPC (Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission) and that raised red flags for me.

The biggest concern for me, and possibly IHPC, was how the building related to the neighboring Hammond Block building. I figured the new building would overpower the corner wedge-shaped building.
I must admit that this is a case where reality supersedes the presentation drawings. The use of glass on the wall above Hammond Block building creates a lightness. The glass reflects the sky and makes the background building disappear. Fortunately, the Hammond Block building stands front and center. Even with the cruise ship-like structure floating above it.
Along Massachusetts Avenue, the large building attempts to blend in. Above the sixth floor, 333 starts to step back, scaling down the Mass Ave facade in an attempt to keep in scale with the neighboring structures.

The design elements (windows, stone accents, etc.) attempt to correspond with the building to the northeast. But the Mass Ave facade clashes with the Hammond Block's Mass Ave. facade. It seems awkward.
I try very hard not to be bitchy when providing architectural critiques. But I can't help but compare this building to a mullet. Up front, its clean and business like with the use of brick and glass. But in the back, they use EIFS (fake stucco), a 180 from the front. In fact, its worse than a mullet. At least a mullet has a party in the back.

It's not like they just used a little bit of EIFS. The southern and eastern elevations are completely EIFS. It is as bland and cheap as you can get. It's comparable to vinyl siding in its unattractiveness and cheapness. I suspect this is what the developers were really trying to sneak in before IHPC took jurisdiction over this area. No way in hell would this have happened if IHPC reviewed it.

Lucas Oil Stadium in the news

Lucas Oil Stadium has been in the press a lot recently, and for all the wrong reasons. The short sightedness of state and local government has produced a great stadium with no way funding mechanism to operate it. I'm not going to argue the merits of different taxes, because I'm not a finance expert. All I do know is that something has to happen, because the stadium won't operate itself.

But there was an interesting itty-bitty piece of news that may have escaped most people. US Soccer, in its bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, provided a list of 70 stadiums across the country that they will be contacting about being potential game sites. Lucas Oil Stadium is one of them.

So while many will moan about the continued costs of a stadium for a bunch of millionaires, keep in mind that this isn't a building just for the Colts. The NCAA had plenty of input and a successful set of basketball games were held recently. The Final Four next year should be spectacular. It is a great venue for indoor and outdoor events. And the flexibility of the L.O. makes it suitable for anything... hockey, track and field, and soccer. And US Soccer recognizes that.

I still think building the stadium was the right thing to do. And I really hope we make a serious run for a World Cup game.

Applying Curitiba to Indianapolis

Hat tip to one of my favorite urban design blogs, "Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space" , for this link to a funny, cute, and smart illustrated commentary on more efficient means of planning bus transit lines. It is titled "The long Squiggly Line that's killing our transit system (and news of a Brazilian cure)".

Check it out. Tell me that those diagrams don't look like the majority of IndyGo's routes.

You know what irks me?

That an 18 acre new development for 22 homes can be labeled "green". If you really want to be green, re-use existing housing stocks. Redevelop urban lands. Nothing that involves building or paving over open land should be called "green", in my opinion.

Maybe I'm just being crabby, but it really bugged me when I read it.