Mixed feelings about the reopening of Capitol Avenue bridge
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis bridge used by thousands of commuters to downtown is now reopened after months of construction.
The city closed the Capitol Avenue bridge in April for structural repairs.
Some people told 24-Hour News 8 they are so glad the bridge is finally reopened because they are so done with the detours.
But for other people who live in the area, they said they actually didn’t mind the closure.
The Capitol Avenue bridge at Fall Creek is back open to traffic after being closed for seven months.
“I’m happy that it’s back open,” said Ranesha Gamill, who takes Capitol Avenue.
The closure caused delays and detours for people who couldn’t take Capitol to get downtown. Gamill remembers being late to work a couple of times because of this.
“I had to detour a lot some times. I would have to go around to (Dr.) Martin Luther King (Jr. Drive) or Senate (Avenue) or something. Oh, my God, it’s horrible,” she said.
She and other drivers like Marcus Antonio were surprised to find the bridge reopened, but knows the construction isn’t over.
“They are making improvements. I understand they still have to make improvements up underneath the bridge so I think they’re doing a good job,” said Antonio, who takes Capitol Avenue.
The Capitol Avenue bridge is more than 100 years old and is used by more than 17,000 a day. The Indianapolis Department of Public Works decided to close the bridge down in April so it could fix and repair a couple of things, including the superstructure of the bridge and the stone bridge railing, and upgrade 600 feet of sidewalk.
“I’m grateful for the fact that they did improve the bridge because I think they’re going to do more improvements within the community,” said Maria, who lives on Capitol Avenue.
Maria said she appreciates the work the city is doing, but admits her block was pretty quiet without all the cars speeding through.
“Slow down because we have a lot of people who are Mario Andretti on Capitol trying to get to work just simply just slow down,” Maria said.
The construction project cost around $1.7 million and was funded by the federal government.
The city said they still have to do some construction work underneath the bridge so that might cause some lane closures in the left-turn lane or the bike lane.