The backroom Blue Line deal may just add new lanes to existing roads

INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — One month after House Speaker Todd Huston agreed to scrap Senate Bill 52, it remains unclear what Indianapolis gave up, if anything, to save the Blue Line during backroom negotiations.

But part of the deal could involve adding new lanes to some stretches of Washington Street.

Senate Bill 52 would have temporarily banned the use of dedicated lanes for the planned bus rapid transit route, a move that IndyGo said would have cost the city up to $150 million in federal funding. Some of that money would go toward infrastructure improvements along Washington Street.

The legislation from Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, who has supported several bills targeting the transit agency, appeared poised to become law until Huston, R-Fishers, made the surprise announcement to kill the bill Feb. 29, just days before the legislative session was set to adjourn.

[Our fact-checking State Sen. Aaron Freeman story made quite the splash. See why.]

The parties involved in the backroom deal are staying quiet on the details of the agreement.

“I’m not going to get into … what happened in the room,” Dan Parker, chief of staff to Mayor Joe Hogsett, told reporters last week. “I would refer you to the Speaker’s statement.”

In the statement, Huston said IndyGo and city officials agreed to revise the route to maintain two lanes of motor vehicle traffic “whenever possible” along Washington Street going east and west. He said the updated plans would “increase traffic flow and ensure the city maintains a rapid mass transit system.”

But the particular grant IndyGo is seeking requires that more than 50% of the Blue Line use lanes exclusive to bus traffic. The latest project description uploaded to the Federal Transit Administration website calls for shared lanes for about 56% of the route, making the window of “whenever possible” pretty narrow. 

So, was the monthslong battle over a measly 5% of the route?

Not exactly.

An IndyGo spokesperson said that engineers are still working on a final design for the project, which could involve adding additional lanes of traffic instead of removing dedicated bus lanes.

“We cannot yet say where or even if we will be removing dedicated lanes from the project,” Carrie Black told Mirror Indy. “Speaker Huston asked us to identify opportunities to add additional general-purpose traffic lanes, which does not necessarily mean having to give up dedicated lanes. Our engineering teams continue to review where and how we can accomplish this as they also identify what impacts might result from any changes made.”

Huston did not respond to a request for comment.

Parker, meanwhile, said Huston’s decision to table the bill was the result of collective action by Indianapolis residents who urged state lawmakers not to mess with the Blue Line.

“The final outcome was really determined because the people of Indianapolis showed up in force to support the Blue Line,” Parker said. “Everybody involved did their role. We did our role. Our Marion County Democratic delegation did their part. But the people from the east and west side that were really supportive of this project came out in force, and that matters. That really does matter.”

[Locals celebrated that night at Kismetic Beer Co. and Ash & Elm Cider Co.]

Where was the mayor?

Throughout the contentious debate during the legislative session, Hogsett remained quiet, and he wasn’t in the room when the compromise was hashed out.

Hogsett, a Democrat, said that was intentional.

“It’s fair to say that when it comes to the city of Indianapolis, leadership of the legislature encourages me not to be involved for reasons that are obvious, so I defer to others as it relates to conversations with the Speaker,” Hogsett told reporters last week.

Hogsett, who has spoken critically of the Republican-controlled legislature, made a similar comment to reporters in January when he said that his participation in conversations with Indiana Republicans “is not necessarily always well received.”

City officials declined to name who represented Hogsett at the meeting with Huston.

In any case, the compromise appears to have put an end to the Blue Line debate. Last month, the Biden Administration recommended $140 million in federal funding for the 24-mile route, which is slated to run from the Indianapolis International Airport to Cumberland, traversing Washington Street and I-70.

The federal grant is expected to be awarded in the fall, and construction on the $370 million project would start in 2025 and conclude by 2027, according to current estimates.

Hogsett said Huston has agreed to sit down with him now that session is over. He also said he’s encouraged that state officials are beginning to rethink the state’s road funding formula, which disproportionately benefits rural areas with fewer lanes of road miles.

The next battle?

During the legislative session, Huston and other top Republicans said that Senate Bill 52 was the pause that needed to take place in order to have a conversation about road funding.

But that conversation is already happening. A state task force created last year in part to rethink how Indiana funds its roads will meet later this year to discuss, among other things, the possibility of the Indiana Department of Transportation taking back control of Meridian and Washington streets, two former state highways.

Freeman has said that Indianapolis has “failed to maintain” the streets since the state relinquished them to the city more than 30 years ago.

City officials appear lukewarm to that concept.

“They’re now city thoroughfares. They’re not state highways,” Parker told reporters last week. “Our residents are clamoring for slowed down traffic on neighborhood streets.”

Parker pointed to the city’s efforts to convert one-way streets to two-way traffic, a move intended to decrease crashes and spur economic development.

“A lot of these former state highways go through areas of our city that are now neighborhoods and not necessarily places you want to drive 55 mph through,” Parker said.

The state task force met last summer but declined to make any recommendations. The committee plans to meet later this year, and its findings could result in legislation in 2025.

Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.