Million-dollar push for street repairs in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — On Monday, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and the Department of Public Works asked City-County Councilors to approve millions of dollars to repair the streets.

Exciting news, but some residents told WRTV they don't want to get their hopes up just yet.

"I want to see where my tax dollars are going in the are a where I live," Anita Sherron said.

Complaint.

"My youngest has gone through four tires this pothole season," Kelly Brogean said.

After complaint.

"Did you forget we exist? Come on, we do exist, and no one seems to care," Tonya Calloway said.

About horrible road conditions in parts of the Circle City.

"It's frustrating. Because we were told about five to six years ago, 'We're going to raise your gas taxes, but we're going to put that back in infrastructure,'" Brogean said.

Brogean lives along Edmondson Rd in the Warren Park area.

"Edmondson is really starting to show the wear and tear. Not so much below 10th Street, but north of 10th Street is a mess," Brodean said.

She said for years residents have kept hope alive that the city would eventually come and fix their roads.

"Yeah, you try to understand there's a lot of other people trying to get their attention, but it's very frustrating," Brogean said.

"When I saw what they were doing over there on Meridian, Chester. I'm like, huh, those streets aren't that bad over there. What about the diverse areas where the poor people are, the working-class people are?" Sherron said.

On Monday, Hogsett and Indy DPW asked councilors to approve millions of dollars in additional funding to improve Marion County roads. If approved, $10 million will be distributed between each district to go towards street repairs.

A welcome development for City-County councilors who field complaints from residents, but residents WRTV spoke with just want to know if their street will see the funding.

"It's not very much. I don't think it'll go very far. It'll be interesting to see where they highlight and what street they choose that needs it the most."

Just north of Brogean, we found Tonya Calloway.

On Tuesday afternoon, she sent WRTV an email about the condition of the road she lives on, Sadlier Drive near North Hartman Drive. WRTV found some potholes there.

Calloway said with the construction of the purple line just a few feet away, she thinks it's only going to get worse If the city doesn't act fast.

"We'll get more traffic coming down our street. People will get tired of sitting in lines and waiting. They'll start cutting through on 39th, Sadlier, all of them," Calloway said.

WRTV spoke with District 19 Councilor David Ray who said once this is approved, each councilor will submit their district's worst streets to see where to prioritize those repairs.

Contractors are set and ready to head out as soon as next month. Ray said for his district, repairs are needed between Shadeland and Franklin Road, Arlington and Post Roads, and the Warren Park area.