Going a mile for the Cultural Trail

North Corridor is formally dedicated

It was as hot, sunny morning when about a hundred people gathered on Walnut Street where it runs into the

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail travels along Walnut Street to the Downtown Canal, where it crosses the Canal alongside the USS Indianapolis Memorial.

Downtown Canal, on a knoll above the USS Indianapolis Memorial. They were there to cut the ribbon on a one-mile leg of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail known as the North Corridor. They were there to celebrate another milestone in the now-nine-year effort to connect the city’s Downtown cultural amenities and at the same time bolster the city’s sense of community.

“This opening of the next corridor of the Cultural Trail is another great step toward making Indianapolis one of the most sustainable cities in the Midwest,” said Mayor Greg Ballard. “Creating opportunities for our residents to bike and walk around our city helps to increase the connectivity between our neighborhoods, while this growing network of pedestrian and bicycle paths is a resource that helps our continued economic growth.”

The North Corridor of The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick runs from the corner of Alabama and North streets (the north end of the East Corridor) to the corner of Indiana Avenue and Blackford Street. The winding path includes stretches on North Street, through the American Legion Mall, St. Clair Street west of the Canal, and a short stretch of Indiana Avenue.

It also includes – along a two-block stretch of Walnut Street just west of Meridian Street –the Glick Peace Walk, honoring 12 great Americans selected by the Glick family to honor people of peace whose creativity, perseverance and concern for others improved life for everyone who came after them.

The Glick Peace Walk is made possible through a gift of more than $2 million from Gene and Marilyn Glick that is in addition to their $15 million contribution to the trail. At press time, the Glick Peace Walk was scheduled to be officially dedicated and illuminated at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 30.

Brian Payne, president of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, originated the idea of the Cultural Trail and has led this project since 2001. He reiterated the importance and power of connecting people to the front door or within a block of the best of Downtown Indianapolis.

The North Corridor of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail extends to the Ransom Place neighborhood, where it turns from St. Clair Street (left) to Indiana Avenue. The West Corridor will run south on Blackford Street through the IUPUI campus.

“There is no other trail project in the world that both connects you directly to a city’s most desirable destinations while also making the journey a beautiful, inspiring experience,” said Payne. “The Indianapolis Cultural Trail has catapulted Indianapolis into the global consciousness as a leader in urban trail design, transportation infrastructure and as one of the most livable communities in the country.”

With three major legs of the Cultural Trail yet to begin construction, Payne said enough money – $63 million – has been raised to complete the eight-mile bicycle and pedestrian project that connects the five Downtown cultural districts and greenway trails. Fund-raising is continuing, however, to help pay for additional amenities which would further enhance the trail, Payne said, such as a European-style bicycle loan program.

The fund-raising effort received a major boost earlier this year when the Cultural Trail received $20.5 million from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Nearly 1,400 other proposals totaling over $57 billion in requests from around the U.S. were submitted for $1.5 billion in available transportation funding. The Cultural Trail was one of just 51 proposals awarded – and one of only two trail projects in the country to receive funding.

The June 18 event also celebrated the opening of the Frank and Katrina Basile Corridor, from Capitol Avenue to the Canal on Walnut Street, which recognizes their $500,000 gift to the project. Well-known throughout the community for their philanthropy, Frank Basile explained why he and Katrina made that donation.

“Katrina and I appreciate being given the opportunity to participate in something as meaningful to our community as the Cultural Trail,” Basile said. “We love to travel and discover new places and have found that the best way to do that is to walk the downtown or other important or historic area of towns we visit. This trail will enable both locals and visitors to walk or bike our entire downtown area while seeing most of the major museums and other icons along the way.”

Target date set for end of

Northeast Corridor work

The long-awaited end of the construction of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail’s Northeast Corridor is now targeted for the end of August or early September, trail officials and contractors told Mass Ave and Chatham Arch stakeholders at a June 7 informational meeting.

The traffic restrictions probably won’t end at that time, however, because of landscaping projects which will follow the completion of the “hardscape” work.

The neighbors and merchants were also told that construction was scheduled to begin by the end of June at the key intersection of Mass Ave, Walnut Street and Park Avenue. That work also includes the addition of a full traffic signal at that intersection.

Construction of the stylized corners will also begin soon at East and Walnut streets, with the work continuing through the end of August.

other work ahead

Construction will begin soon on two short sections of the Cultural Trail:

– Alabama Street from Market Street to Washington Street, extending the East Corridor south to the eventual east end of the Central Corridor.

– Capitol Avenue from Washington Street to Maryland Street, linking the future Central Corridor to a leg of the trail extending to Lucas Oil Stadium. That stretch, from Maryland Street to South Street, is being constructed as part of the Indianapolis Convention Center expansion and financed through that project.

The remaining construction on Virginia Avenue, Washington Street and Blackford Avenue will begin in early 2011. The entire eight-mile Cultural Trail is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.