Opposition To Red Line's College Avenue Route Grows

The Indianapolis Star's John Tuohy has a story about the growing opposition of north side residents to the proposed bus rapid transit line running down the already highly-trafficked and narrow College Avenue. The first leg of the Red Line would include dedicated bus lanes on which electric buses would run from 66th Street in Broad Ripple to the University of Indianapolis on the South Side. The route would follow College to 38th Street and then Meridian Street and Capitol Street south to downtown. The bus line would follow Virginia Street from downtown to Shelby Street. There would be about 28 stops in all with buses running about every 10 minutes.

Residents in the Broad Ripple area were already fuming over the placement of Blue Indy electric car sharing stations in the busiest areas of College Avenue where parking was already tight. They fear the dedicated bus lane will consume remaining parking that is available on College, further slowing traffic on it to the point motorists will divert to other neighborhood streets to avoid the bottlenecks. The proponents see the cost of the $100 million first phase of the Red Line as a cleaner way of transporting people, lessening dependence on fuel fossils and the supposed problem they pose for global warming, even though global temperatures haven't been rising as predicted. Eventually, the Red Line would extend at least as far north as Carmel and as far south as Greenwood.

According to Tuohy's article, IndyGo anticipates there will be about 11,000 riders daily on the Red Line. One of the opponents of the Red Line route, Brian McGuire, wonders where all those riders are going to be found. "Other than rush hour, that College bus runs empty all day long," McGuire said, adding that expectations of new dwellings to “create ridership" are far-fetched. "Are they going to pull 11,000 riders out of midair?"

It sounds like there is going to be a lot of re-engineering work that will be necessary along the route. There will be boarding platforms much like you have at train stations. The boarding platforms will be placed every one-third to three miles. Some of the platforms planned along College will actually be located in the center lane. Motorists would no longer be able to make left turns at most intersections along the route. Traffic signals will be manipulated to allow the buses to travel through intersections without waits.

City-County Councilor Joe Simpson, whose district the proposed Red Line partially runs, is opposed to the route. "They are going to come in and rearrange our streets for people who are not from Indianapolis," Simpson said. "A few years ago we reconstructed 38th Street. Then we rearrange the streets for all these bike lanes, and now we are going to do it so people from Carmel don't have to drive? The people who live here aren't going to have anywhere to drive their cars anymore. It seems like this is not a benefit to the community." Newly-elected City-County Councilor Colleen Fanning, whose district includes many of the opponents, supports the proposed route. "I truly believe it is a net positive, but if I am wrong, I am flexible," said Fanning, a Republican. "This is not change for change's sake. Not having reliable transportation is holding us back as a city. Change is always scary, but it frustrates me when people form an opinion with incorrect or incomplete information. That's why I am glad we can have a discussion."

If you want to sign an online petition opposing the currently-proposed Red Line, click here.