Source: PHOTO: WISH-TV
INDIANAPOLIS — Broad Ripple Avenue is scheduled to reopen to traffic on Friday after almost five months of construction and redesigning. The Broad Ripple Village Association Executive Director, Jordan Dillon, says this construction portion is a big deal, but there’s still more left to complete.
The project caused the closure of Broad Ripple Avenue from Winthrop Avenue to Guilford Avenue for 100 days. Additional work, including street finishing, landscaping, construction of the RiverWalk, and installation of road signs, will continue on side streets such as Winthrop, Guilford, and Carrollton.
“The major part that still has to be done is the Riverwalk,” Dillon said.
In 2017, a team of business leaders from Broad Ripple came together to form the Broad Ripple RiverWalk Task Force. They aimed to keep the conversation going in the community and create interest in the project. Working alongside the Broad Ripple Village Association, the task force presented a winning proposal to the City of Indianapolis Department of Public Works for a Neighborhood Infrastructure Grant.
Dillon says today’s reopening represents some much-needed relief for Broad Ripple businesses.
“They are champions for their business, and they are champions for our neighborhood as well,” he said. “We would not be the village that we are without them.”
Since the BRVA was awarded the DPW grant in 2018, volunteers and supporters have worked with community members, foundations, and businesses to generate the necessary matching funds to fund the RiverWalk’s construction fully.
