The intersection of Shadeland Avenue and Kensington Drive is circled on the map.
Incidents
July 25, 2022 / Pedestrian Death (FCRB Reviewed / Master Record: 904078947)
September 7, 2022 / Pedestrian Death (FCRB Reviewed / Master Record: 904109983)
October 4, 2022 / Pedestrian Death (FCRB Reviewed / Master Record: 904132778)
Two other non-death Pedestrian incidents since 2015
Shadeland Avenue, like Washington Street, is on the High-Injury network All-Star Team.
Image A / Indy MPO crash data of this area from 2015 thru June 2024. Red dot is vehicle. Blue dot is pedestrian. Green dot is cyclist. Dark red outline is a death.
What does the Fatal Crash Review Board say?
I'm going to quote from the October 26, 2022 incident that involved two drivers.
"Shadeland Avenue is a hot-spot for racing and other reckless behavior. In the short term, enforcement is needed. Longer-term, it is recommended that an evaluation of Shadeland Avenue be conducted to determine potential scope for significant safety improvements."
And an October 7, 2023 incident that killed a pedestrian.
"There are no sidewalks and few crossing opportunities for Shadeland. Shadeland needs crosswalks and sidewalks."
The feedback is good, but the FCRB was never given any power. Nothing has been done. The Mayor and City Council have to force action and give someone the power to make changes. There is basically zero doubt that someone else will be struck and killed in this area before that happens. That's what we mean when we say predictable tragedy.
Immediate Term Changes
You have to start somewhere. The good news is that Shadeland Avenue is so fundamentally broken and dysfunctional that it's almost impossible to make it worse.
The immediate change I'd like to see here is pretty simple and could be completed by about two people in an hour. Just eliminate the center lane for a few hundred feet to provide a refuge for people that want to cross the street at this location. Sixteen to twenty jersey barriers filled with water and you shorten the unprotected crossing distance from seven lanes to three.
Image B / Immediate Term Changes
Long Term Changes
We're asking and answering two big questions in this post. What is the purpose of Shadeland Avenue? And what SHOULD the purpose be?
Shadeland Avenue was part of the original plan for an Indianapolis beltway that was never completed. Look at 465 on the east side and it's obvious that this was the original path, but they took a little jog to the east instead. The scars of that original plan have never been undone and now is the time.
The portion we're focused on here runs completely parallel to 465 for about four miles (Washington to 38th). We want to push drivers to 465 and keep them there by making Shadeland a terrible detour option when traffic gets backed up on 465. And we want to reconnect all of the neighborhoods that were tossed aside by the original beltway project.
THE PLAN!
Induce pedestrian and bikes traffic.
Reconnect the neighborhoods sandwiched between 465 and Shadeland to the rest of the city.
Aggressively eliminate duplicative driver access (too complicated to address in this post, but VERY important).
Make traveling at high speeds difficult for drivers.
Take advantage of what could be a transit rich area and connect the Blue and Purple lines via Shadeland.
Basically, we're killing Shadeland "Avenue" and building Shadeland Boulevard
Why invest here? This 4+ miles of pavement is going to become a cradle of transit because of the easy access it will have to the Blue and Purple lines. Think about it... no matter where you are on this corridor in 2027, you'll be less than two miles from a Blue Line or a Purple Line stop. That's walkable, an easy bike ride, and an extremely easy e-bike ride. Also, we're going to remove a LOT of unnecessary lane miles from the maintenance inventory. The upfront costs of this project will be expensive, but the revitalization of this area (tax revenue!) and the huge reduction in maintenance costs will be worth it.
Good riddance to Shadeland Avenue. May Shadeland Boulevard rise from its ashes. Start with a chonky median with trees, eliminate all of the turn lanes, and add some mixed-use paths. This is what Shadeland needs to become. The only alternative that makes any sense is what Carmel did to Keystone. Full separation. It would be more expensive and a horrible long-term decision, but it would be much safer for everybody.
Image C / Plan for the corridor with the current layout on the top edge for comparison. The darker gray around the crosswalk is the raised portion.
More on the full corridor in a moment, but let's look at Kensington Drive. Shadeland Boulevard will need mid-block crossings in many places. My plan would be to have these crossings be raised, signaled, and uncomfortable for drivers to hit at more than 40 mph. This will be safer for all modes and encourage the folks that want to go fast to stay on the interstate.
Now we're going to fantasy land. As I said above, this corridor going to become a cradle of transit and we should make sure people know it.
First, we'll start at Washington Street and rip out that stupid interchange. This is not an interstate and it's never going to become one. A massive roundabout at the newly leveled grade replaces the interchange and signals to drivers that the interstate ends here. I didn't forget about the Blue Line either. It goes right through the middle of the giant roundabout and could even get signal priority (the power to activate stop lights to clear its path) if needed. And look at all of that new extra space we'll create for new tax revenues!
Image D / The Washington Street Roundabout. A crazy idea?
All of the intersections between Washington and Pendleton Pike get their own roundabout treatments. I'm not going to draw them all for you, but the image below gives you a good overview of how this would work.
There would basically be a roundabout every half mile, so ALL left turns are eliminated, and the median never breaks.
Drivers can use the next roundabout to u-turn and comeback to places on the left side of the boulevard.
The most interesting idea here (to me) is getting on/off I70. The way I have it setup might be too confusing, but I think it works and would love to see it attempted.
Automated signaling could be used throughout where/if needed. Traffic flow on Shadeland could overpower the roundabouts at times, so automating a stop light to trigger when 10th (for example) starts to get backed up would be a great solution. Maybe only northbound Shadeland would need to stop for 20 seconds to clear the backup. This would be MUCH more efficient than the current setup. These signals could also be used for the crosswalks.
Image E / The in-between intersections and their roundabouts.
Last, we have 38th and Pendleton Pike. This is probably the roughest mock-up that I'll ever give you, but I just want you to see how drivers and the big bus (Purple Line BRT) would navigate this area.
The Purple Line gets to standout just like the Blue Line at Washington Street. Right through the middle of the roundabout. The BRT station on the east side of Shadeland would need to be moved/replaced to create this, but I think it would be worth the hassle. Signal priority to clear the roundabout could also be used at this location.
Pendleton Pike basically ends at 38th Street, so let’s end it at Shadeland instead. Doing this accomplishes a few different things. 1. We remove a LOT of pavement from the maintenance inventory. 2. We instantly calm this entire area and, once again, we reclaim some land that could now create tax revenue!
Drivers now get two roundabouts instead of two of the most inefficient and unsafe signaled intersections in the city. This basically eliminates driver on driver fatal accidents.
Pedestrian access isn’t fully conceived in the image below. Crossings would be raised on the entire Shadeland corridor, and that would continue here. Signals for all pedestrian crossings would be used here as well. Would be similar to the automated signaling discussed in the previous section.
Image F / Shadeland and 38th / Pendleton Pike
Did we have fun in fantasy land? I had fun. I think a big piece of this project is showing drivers that Vision Zero doesn’t mean zero cars. This is our fourth Fatal Crash Review post, and I would ask the drivers out there to look at what I’ve suggested over the last few months and think about whether any of my plans made things worse for drivers. Personally, I drive almost every day, and I would much prefer driving on my suggested layouts.
Council District
District 9 is east of Emerson, North of 21st, and South of Fall Creek. The eastern border is not straight, but most of this district is west of 465. Keith L. Graves is your councilor and he's been on the council since 2019.
Contact Keith L. Graves: 200 E. Washington St., Suite T441 Indianapolis, IN 46204 317.560.4554 |  |
Other Involved Districts
District 14 is the next district to the south of District 9. Emerson, 21st, Washington Street, and Mithoefer are your main borders and Andy Nielsen is your councilor.
Contact Andy Nielsen: 200 W. Washington Street, Suite T441 Indianapolis, IN 46204 317.283.9680 |  |