Change to former one-way street causes confusion
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — New changes caused some confusion for drivers on the near north side after the city converted 30th Street from Meridian Street to Central Avenue into a two-way road. 24-Hour News 8 caught some of that confusion on camera.
A spokesperson for Indianapolis Department of Public Works told 24-Hour News 8 they have been talking with people in the Mapleton Fall Creek Neighborhood about making the traffic improvement since 2011.
The Department of Public Works spent two days last week on the the conversion by taking down one way signs and painting the median lines. But not all drivers got the memo about the change.
It looks like any other morning with cars moving along 30th Street near Meridian Street, until one driver makes a right turn into the wrong lane of what used to be a one-way street. Some drivers told us they’re not surprised.
“The first day I got in the wrong lane,” said Steve, a driver in the area. “I got right over into the right lane though, but I see a lot of other people get in the wrong lane.”
The problem continued when another driver almost caused a head-on crash with a mini van. The driver, unsure of what to do got back into the wrong lane.
“I’m just hoping they could put more signs up,” said William, a driver. “I think if they put more signs up, I think more people can be more aware of it.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Works said they removed the “one-way” and “no parking” signs last week and made the changes to improve the flow of traffic, with two lanes going west and one lane going east.
“I made that left turn and I was happy about it,” said Nathan Rush.
Rush lives in the Mapleton-Fall Creek Neighborhood. He’s also part of the neighborhood association.
“I spoke to our executive committee and some of the other members and they’re happy that this happened and not only this conversion but the other infrastructure things that are happening in the neighborhood,” said Rush.
While some drivers may not be used to the change, Rush is hoping it will help the neighborhood in the long run.
“I know we had some issues around crime, the neighborhood has improved, so to me I’m proud to be part of the neighborhood association and the things that we’re doing we’re trying to help the community relations,” he said.
24-Hour News 8 reached out to police to see if there have been any crashes reported since the conversion, but did not hear back.
At this time, Indianapolis Department of Public Works said they will continue to monitor the traffic flow and patterns.