INDIANAPOLIS — A $5.5 million project is underway at Binford Boulevard to improve 16 different intersections. But, people are still wondering when their road will be repaved or when their sidewalks will be developed.
Residents have turned to the newsroom with help getting the city's attention about flooded streets.
"Kids can't walk up, and down the streets, cars are getting torn up, it isn't very much an eyesore. It's disgusting," Jessi Griffith, an Indianapolis resident, said.
The community is also concerned over neglected sidewalks.
"The sidewalk, the water has washed from the street and grass area over the sidewalk putting sediment down," Clifford Butcher, an Indianapolis resident, said. "So then you get grass growing, and the sidewalk is broken up, so there just isn't much left."
It doesn't matter where you live, problems like these exist all over the city. And it all comes down to funding. RTV6 has taken a closer look at the funding gap the city is facing.
To address this problem, the Department of Metropolitan Development has created a long term transportation plan called "Indy Moves." The Department of Public Works was consulted in stakeholder meetings, interviews and research of the plan.
The final plan has been adopted by the Metropolitan Development Commission.
DPW reports it needs at least $178 million a year, to keep the existing transportation system in good repair. Last calendar year gas tax collection was $54,945,961 and the anticipated collection is at $59 million for 2019.
A majority of that money comes from drivers, through gas tax collection. The City of Indianapolis received $54,945,961 last calendar year from gas taxes, and the anticipated collection is at $59 million for 2019. The city said the revenue is small compared to the $178 million it needs annually.
Here is a link to the Local Motor Vehicle Highway and the Local Road and Street distributions from fiscal year 2015 through February 2019, on a monthly basis: https://www.in.gov/auditor/1264.htm [in.gov].
Funding Indy Moves will require coordinating local, state, federal and private partners tackling projects first that fit the community's goals and have the most significant positive impact.
This measure is not meant to be a band-aid, but a long term plan to address growing transportation needs across the city.
Indianapolis is also hiring a transportation planner to work with both DPW and the Department of Metropolitan Development. The goal is to keep the two agencies on the same page, as far as long term planning.
